Coronavirus: Sprout Creek Farm to close, animals to be relocated to new homes

Sprout Creek Farm is closing citing "significant financial hardship" amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The news prompted an outpouring of concern from residents and local organizations, regarding the future of its animals. While Sprout Creek has been tight-lipped regarding specifics of its plans, it has stated all animals would be relocated to new homes.

The Poughkeepsie farm, which was funded by Marist College, had been losing money for several years. The college announced it would no longer support operational costs, and the future of the farm would be decided by its board of directors. 

In a statement Friday, Sprout Creek Farm said the challenges of the pandemic "only exacerbated the financial challenges" of the farm operations, making its business model unsustainable. It said without the ability to conduct programming, the farm does not have enough money to operate without outside financial support. 

The non-profit is a working farm and educational center that produces handcrafted cheese as well as other programming.

In a Facebook post Saturday morning, Sprout Creek Farm said its animals "will all be appropriately and humanely managed by our excellent farmer and his staff. We have always operated this way at Sprout Creek Farm. Any rumors to the contrary are false."

Repeated attempts by the Journal to reach farm representatives have gone unreturned, and Marist representatives did not respond to inquiries. 

The farm's voicemail message states, “Currently the farm director is working with several reputable organizations and is in the process or placing the animals. The plan is to relocate all animals to other farms. They are not being sent to slaughter.”

That hasn't alleviated concern for some.

Heather Decker, Communications and Retail Coordinator with the Catskill Animal Sanctuary said her organization is among those that reached out to Sprout Creek Farm and offered to take in animals, visiting the property Monday. Decker said police were blocking the farm entrance allowing people through who had previously arranged to take the animals.

"We're an animal sanctuary that focuses on rescuing farmed animals. We are no stranger to these types of incidents,” she said.

Farm leadership informed them all the animals had been placed and assistance is not needed, Decker said.

Despite this, Catskill Animal Sanctuary founder Kathy Stevens said the "secrecy" regarding where the animals are headed "is what's alarming to us."

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In 2018, Marist assumed operational control, investing $2.5 million into the farm, providing personnel, capital improvements, a state-of-the-art creamery and enhancements to its educational programming. 

In a statement, the college said despite its investment and commitment to the farm, it could no longer support the business model going forward. 

"Marist entered into the agreement with the farm as part of a good faith effort to provide a lifeline to a struggling local organization," the school said. "However the college is simply unwilling to use college assets to further subsidize the farm's losses." 

As of Friday, all operations on the farm were closed. 

"It is a priority to Sprout Creek Farm that all animals are relocated to new homes and given the best care that local farmers can give them," Farm Director Sean O'Sullivan said. "All efforts are being made to ensure that the transitions are accomplished with the emphasis on animals' safety, health and welfare. We have taken great pride ensuring that all animals have been well looked after and that the care and attention we have given them will continue." 

The non-profit said various options for the farm's future remain open, including partnership with external organizations or an outright sale. The farm's land is protected by a conservation easement, so future operations would need to focus on agricultural and education programming. 

"After many years of serving the Dutchess County community, Sprout Creek Farm’s Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to suspend Farm operations," The farm said in a message on it's site. "We greatly appreciate the community support the Farm has received over the years and the chance we’ve had to be part of the lives of so many children and their families." 

Katelyn Cordero: kcordero@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4870; Twitter: @KatelynCordero.