Protected by: U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS), CT Department of Agriculture, and Connecticut Farmland Trust
Year Protected: 2020 and 2021
Acres: 296 of 500
Gallup Homestead Farm, a 500-acre dairy in Voluntown, completed the first phase of a multi-year project to preserve the massive farm in August of 2020.
Gallup Homestead Farm, known for its wholesale milk production, has been previously honored as a Dairy Farm of Distinction in Connecticut. The owner, Byron Gallup, is the last farmer in a line of thirteen generations of farmers. Byron has no heirs, yet he is conservation-minded and wants to see the land preserved forever for the next generations of farmers.
The farm, which is large for a farm in suburban Connecticut, is being preserved in four pieces to provide flexibility when it eventually becomes time to transfer or sell the property to the next generation of farmers. Smaller portions of land are more affordable and more practical for new and young farmers. For now, Gallup Homestead Farm will continue producing milk for wholesale.
This project began when Byron applied to the CT DoAg’s Farmland Preservation Program in 2017 with the explicit goal of protecting the land long beyond the era of the Gallup family. To best protect the land, the CT Dept. of Ag approached Connecticut Farmland Trust (CFT) to assist in the purchase of development rights. CFT and the State jointly secured an ACEP-ALE grant from the USDA-NRCS.
This page will be updated as the preservation of the entire farm progresses. December 1, 2021.