“I’d like to think that there will always be a place for small farms,” says Ethan Coutu of Maplecroft Farm in Morris. Luckily, there will be. Ethan is a young farmer carrying on the legacy of the nearly 300-year-old farm, which was preserved by CFT in partnership with the Morris Land Trust in 2017.

The 138-acre Farnham Farm has been passed down to a single family member for eight generations since 1735. The farm, currently owned by Anne Howson Fellows, sits amidst a patchwork of agricultural fields intersected by the well-known Mattatuck Trail.

Anne, who is not a farmer, was “very excited about the future of the farm” when she was in negotiations with Ethan Coutu to begin dairy farming and living on the property. Now Ethan, a Morris native and graduate of the SUNY Morrisville Dairy Management Program, leases the farm and is investing his skills in the property.

“I milk my own twenty cows and work full time at Arethusa,” says Ethan, referring to Arethusa Dairy in Litchfield. At Arethusa Farm, Ethan oversees the heifer barn and the dry cows. He takes care of cows between the ages of five months and five years, ensuring that they are fed, cleaned, and living their best lives—just like the cows he manages at home on Farnham Farm. Under Ethan’s management, the land is now known as Maple Croft Farm.

At just 22, Ethan has his whole farming career ahead of him. For now, he hopes that he will be able to keep growing his skills while developing his dairy operation on Maple Croft Farm.

“There have been great improvements that Ethan has made to the land since his arrival,” said landowner Anne Fellows. “We are so pleased with what he has done to bring the farm back to life!”