Protecting our Region's Farmland Should Be Everyone's Mission: An Interview with Steve Blabac & Erin Grimley of Root Down Farm
By Kyle Semmel, Donor and Media Relations Specialist
Producing fresh, locally-sourced food to feed Western New York families is what farmers do best. At the Western New York Land Conservancy, we have permanently protected 47 farms and more than 4,000 acres in our 35-year-history through a vehicle known as a "conservation easement." Once a farm is protected with a conservation easement, a legal agreement between a landowner and the Land Conservancy that removes development rights from the land, it will continue to be a working farm even if the land is sold or passed on. Recently, three more local farms were awarded major state funding, an important step in our farmland protection process. Read the press release to learn more.
Earlier this fall I interviewed Steve Blabac* and Erin Grimley, a husband and wife team who founded and operate Root Down Farm in Clarence, which is protected by a conservation easement with the Land Conservancy. An abridged version of this interview appeared in the fall '26 issue of our print newsletter, The Resource.
*Steve serves on the Land Conservancy's Board of Directors.
Now that you’ve operated Root Down Farm for more than a decade, what advice would you give to first-time farmers?
We both love tangible evidence of our daily work, and we believe that everyone should have access to healthy fruits and vegetables. For me, Steve, I noticed a disturbing trend while growing up in the country: farmers leaving the industry. While studying urban planning in college, I learned about the difficulties in farming and how lucrative the selling of land can be. That led me to wanting to learn more about agriculture, which brought us to the CSA business model. I, Erin, love the process of planning a season in the winter, then working to fulfill that vision. As far as advice for young farmers, we would say choose realistic goals and make sure to dream big enough so that your dream can ultimately become a strong business that can fully support itself, and you the farmer!
According to data compiled by American Farmland Trust, more than 80% of the fruits, vegetables, and dairy products produced in our state are grown on farms near urban areas directly in the path of suburban sprawl. How can we best steer the conversation about farmland protection and the future of agriculture?
The industrial food system doesn’t want the consumer to think about how their food gets to their plate or where it comes from. The truth is that all of our food comes from somewhere, and someone grew or raised it. By keeping that production in, or bringing that production back to, our local communities, farmers like us can have a major impact. From economic boons like job creation, small business autonomy, and regional food security to environmental impacts like clean air and water, we believe protecting our region’s farmland should be everyone’s mission.
For farmers, what are the practical benefits of a conservation easement?
First, access to land. As first-generation farmers, we had to find land on which to grow our crops. Land is expensive and in demand. They sure aren’t making more of it! By ensuring the land must be kept as farmland, a conservation easement makes it less valuable to developers, in the short run, and therefore more accessible to beginning farmers.
Second, it makes us as farmers think differently. We know the land isn’t just here for our use in the present. What we put into our soils and our businesses today will help future farmers feed future generations.
