The family-owned and -operated farm aims to support ecological, animal, and human health through sustainable farming practices.

Northaven Pastures – owned by Bennett Sippel, Eric Marchwinski, and their parents – inhabits land that has supplied the Hudson Valley with valuable animal-based products and resources for decades. The farm previously served as an apple orchard and small dairy farm, and most recently was turned into a horse stable. In the 2000s, the land housed and pastured over 200 sheep whose main product was their wool.

Northaven Farm sits on 95 acres of pasture and timberland and is happily cohabitated by Northaven Stables, a holistic horse boarding operation, and Northaven Pastures, a regenerative livestock operation. These two separate but complementary businesses were formed by one family with the goal to give animals the space and ability to express their innate behaviors in the environment.

“Our family’s shared interests in farming and animal husbandry led us to form these two co-branded businesses that share values, resources, and facilities,” Marchwinski notes. “What started as a modest search for a new home blossomed into an ambitious yet meaningful journey to leave this land and our community better than we found it.”

Ecological Responsibility and Regenerative Farming

Sippel, having gone to college for ecology, has always been passionate about finding ways to farm sustainably. He aims to produce nutrient-rich food while educating the community on how this food is created in a sustainable way. “My studies in ecology piqued my interest in livestock and the positive impacts that livestock can have on the ecosystem at large,” he says.

He found that livestock are the most practical and simplistic way to improve ecology and an environment’s native habitat – as opposed to fruit or vegetable farming – and that the land will always improve, so long as you’re farming with this focus in mind.

Similarly, Northaven Pastures believes that both humans and animals are stewards of the land on which they live and that they have the capability to greatly improve the ecological value of the land’s resources.

“I view our business as a land management business first, whose byproduct is meat and food,” Sippel explains.

Northaven focuses on four areas of production: beef, pork, raw milk, and eggs. It utilizes rotational grazing, which means that the team moves the livestock regularly to ensure that plants have a chance to rest and regrow. Currently, Sippel moves the cows twice a day and the pigs once a week.

“The principle behind moving the livestock is that the animals will digest the food and then 95% of it becomes waste in the form of manure and urine, and that adds health to the soil,” he shares. “So every time we come back, the grass is a little more fertile and productive, the trees are healthier, and the landscape is improved.”

In addition to rotational grazing, Northaven Pastures also avoids putting anything into the animals that aren’t natural, including antibiotics and unnecessary pharmaceuticals.

“It’s shocking how much of the manure doesn’t break down when it has foreign compounds in it. When you’re cultivating a healthy and robust herd by removing unnatural elements, it’s amazing how rapidly the soil improves and becomes fertile,” Sippel says. “It’s something you might not think about, but everything that goes into the animal is being spread into the landscape over time.”

Farming for the Community

Though he loves the ecological aspect of farming, the most rewarding aspect of this endeavor for Sippel is the ability to feed people.

“I find it very rewarding when we have a family whose kids have only ever eaten meat from Northaven,” he says. “To hear that young kids only want bacon from our farm, that’s the best part. We have a family that lives in Staten Island who buys all of their meat from us because their kids are picky eaters. That, for me, is the oil that keeps me going.”

Along with producing food as a resource for the community, both Sippel and the team at Northaven (including his wife, Zoe) share a passion for educating their customers and the community in which they live.

“Often when our customers come in to pick up their orders, they ask questions and are excited to hear about Northaven’s farming values and practices,” Marchwinski shares. “We write and issue a monthly newsletter focusing on one aspect of our values and how that is translated into actual farming practices. Bennett often writes about seasonal issues, challenges we are having, or positive impacts that our herd is having on the land. Sharing these with our customers always elicits such joy and interest from everyone. This is the ‘why’ behind what we do.”

Northaven often invites people to the farm to see these practices and values firsthand. Most recently, it partnered with the Culinary Institute of America in June to host graduate students from the Master’s Program of Sustainable Food Systems. During the tour, the group discussed topics including farm economics, animal husbandry, and raising well-marbled, grass-finished beef.

The Northaven team hopes to continue to welcome people to the farm for tours and educational programs going forward. “It’s important for us to have some focus on that, and we hope to continue to interact with those who are interested in what we do and why,” Marchwinski shares.

When people ask how they can make a difference, Sippel tells them that the most important thing is eating as much food from local farms as possible. Long-term, he and the team are working to provide more products to consumers and expand their customer base. They currently have a farm store on the property that provides smaller cuts of retail beef, pork, and eggs. Later this year, they’ll expand production to include raw milk, which will only be available for purchase on the farm.

“I like to read a lot about the history of agriculture and how we’ve gotten to this point,” Sippel notes. “For me, the idea of something inheritable is very appealing to us. It’s important for me to think about the farm as a multigenerational entity and how to make this productive beyond just us.”

To learn more about Northaven Pastures, visit the website and follow the farm on Instagram.

Northaven Pastures
358 Milan Hill Rd, Red Hook

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