Featured Farms
Cato Corner Farm
“It snowballs. When you have one person in an area like this do preservation and people see that it’s beneficial, they start to think of doing things they wouldn’t have thought of — like protecting their own land.”
Liz MacAlister
An award-winning dairy farm named one of the top 50 U.S. cheesemakers by Food and Wine magazine, Cato Corner Farm is a paradise for cows and cheese-lovers alike. Located in Colchester, Liz MacAlister started Cato Corner with only 13 cows.
More than one type of easement
Liz recognized the importance of preserving the land back in the early 2000s. Funded by the USDA, Natural Resource Conservation Service, a 31.5-acre Grassland Reserve Program easement was placed on the pastures. To ensure that the farm’s land and agricultural operation were never separated, Cato Corner Farm was preserved in its entirety through a second agricultural easement by Connecticut Farmland Trust in 2008. This easement includes extensive pastures and woodlands, barns, a farmstead, and farm store. Agricultural easements allow farmers to plan for buildings needed to run a successful business.
Soil health is the foundation for success
Now, she and her son Mark Gillman operate the 75-acre farm with best practices for healthy soils, the health of their 45 Jersey cows, and great cheese in mind. Since being preserved, Cato Corner Farm has worked tirelessly to safeguard their land for the changing future by planting heat resistant grass, operating no-till practices, and using a rotational grazing system to ensure nutrients go back into the soil. Cato Corner has made sure this farm will exist for generations.
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