Sunnyside Farms Selected for New York AEM-Leopold Conservation Award

Sunnyside Farms of Scipio Center has been selected for the New York AEM-Leopold Conservation Award.

The award honors farmers and forestland owners who go above and beyond in the management of soil health, water quality, and wildlife habitat on working land.

Brothers, Greg and Neil Rejman who own and operate Sunnyside Farms, were presented with the award at a special ceremony on October 10.

Sand County Foundation and national sponsor American Farmland Trust will present Leopold Conservation Awards to landowners in 28 states this year. Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the award recognizes farmers who inspire others with their dedication to environmental improvement. In his influential 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac, Leopold called for “a land ethic,” an ethical relationship between people and the land they own and manage.

New York’s longstanding Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM) Award joined forces with the Leopold Conservation Award program in 2020. In partnership with the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets, the AEM-Leopold Conservation Award honors a farm and its nominating Soil and Water Conservation District, for their efforts to promote and protect the environment through the preservation of soil and water quality while helping to ensure farm viability for future generations.

Earlier this year, New York State Soil and Water Conservation Districts were encouraged to identify and nominate the best examples of conservation success in their district. Applications were reviewed by an independent panel of agricultural and conservation leaders from New York.

ABOUT SUNNYSIDE FARMS

Every seed is planted with purpose at Sunnyside Farms. Brothers Greg and Neil Rejman say it has been that way since their grandfather milked 14 cows by hand.

Today the Rejmans manage a dairy herd 378 times its original size, but the farm’s commitment to conservation has not changed.

With 5,000 dairy cows, and 4,000 heifers and calves on 7,500 acres, the sheer size and scale of Sunnyside Farms is impressive, but what happens behind the scenes and beneath its soil is what’s most remarkable.

The Rejmans have managed their family’s farm in New York’s Finger Lakes region since the 1990s. The farm is situated six miles to the east and west of Cayuga Lake and Owasco Lake, which provide drinking water to nearly 150,000 people. They’ve done what is right, instead of what is easy, to protect the water quality of area lakes.

Buffer strips and grass waterways line their corn fields. Facilities were designed to recycle wash water from the milking parlor and capture leachate from their silage storage bunkers. Instead of growing corn on about 900 acres of steep-sloped, erosion-prone farmland, permanent hay fields and grasslands have been established. Each year 100 acres of grass is reseeded to maintain soil stability.

Soil stabilization practices, like growing cover crops and reduced tillage, increase the soil’s capacity to infiltrate water, cycle nutrients, and sequester carbon, while decreasing erosion and runoff. Cover crops provide a year-round layer of protection and biodiversity to the soil on the farm’s more than 3,500 acres of corn. To reduce the negative impacts of soil compaction, machinery at Sunnyside Farms is purposely equipped with flotation tires.

The Rejmans completed stream stabilization projects, and a variety of conservation practices, in collaboration with the Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation District, which underscores their dedication to environmental stewardship. Their efforts have resulted in more habitat for wild turkey, geese, ducks, bald eagles, and ospreys.

In 2008, in addition to its significant manure storage system, the Rejmans invested in a manure digester which separates solids from liquids. Solids are recycled as bacteria-free livestock bedding. As part of the farm’s precision nutrient management system, liquids are injected as fertilizer into crop fields, rather than spread, to reduce runoff potential.

More than 10 miles of underground piping transfers manure from the storage facility to the field. This reduces the need for heavy manure hauling equipment on rural roadways, and likewise eliminates the potential for manure spillage onto roads or ditches. Recently, cover and flare systems have been added to manure storage facilities to mitigate odor and methane’s greenhouse gases.

Sunnyside Farms has also adopted an experimental pest management plan, utilizing nematodes in place of pesticides, to reduce or eliminate chemicals that can persist in the environment. Such innovations are aided by the farm’s proximity to Cornell University. As host for a variety of crop and dairy research projects, the Rejmans consider themselves lucky to learn from the expertise of Cornell’s professors and graduate students.

They also credit Sunnyside Farms’ team of about 70 staff with helping them demonstrate agriculture’s resiliency in a changing climate. Off the farm, the Rejmans are members of Partners for Healthy Watersheds, Owasco Lake Watershed Inspection Committee, and Cornell’s External Nutrient Management Committee.

ACCOLADES

“New York’s AEM-Leopold Conservation Award is an annual opportunity to recognize landowners who inspire others with their dedication to land, water, and wildlife habitat management and who are dedicated to leaving the land better than how they found it, each and every day,” said Richard A. Ball, New York State Agriculture Commissioner. “We thank the Sand County Foundation for collaborating with us to host this most distinguished award and congratulate the Rejman family, Sunnyside Farms, and the Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation District for their incredible work stewarding the land in their care. You serve as an inspiration to other farm families across New York who are keeping their land healthy, productive, and thriving.”

“Congratulations to Sunnyside Farms and the Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation District on their selection as the 2024 AEM-Leopold Conservation Award winner. We are honored to host this most distinguished award, which recognizes an individual or a farm family and a supporting Conservation District dedicated to the implementation of sound land management practices that benefit all New Yorkers,” said Dale Stein, New York State Soil and Water Conservation District Chair.

“These award recipients are examples of how Aldo Leopold’s land ethic is alive and well today. Their dedication to conservation shows how individuals can improve the health of the land while producing food and fiber,” said Kevin McAleese, Sand County Foundation President and CEO.

“As the national sponsor for Sand County Foundation’s Leopold Conservation Award, American Farmland Trust celebrates the hard work and dedication of Sunnyside Farms,” said John Piotti, AFT President and CEO. “At AFT we believe that exemplary conservation involves the land itself, the practices employed on the land, and the people who steward it. This award recognizes the integral role of all three.”

“Farms like Sunnyside play a central role in feeding our families while also protecting soil and water quality in communities across New York State," said Sean Mahar, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Interim Commissioner. "Congratulations to Sunnyside Farms for their well-deserved AEM-Leopold Conservation Award, which recognizes dedication to environmental stewardship, soil conservation, and storm resiliency to help sustain their farm for future generations. Farms like Sunnyside are great examples of how New York’s agricultural community is helping meet the challenge of our changing climate.”

Sand County Foundation, a national nonprofit conservation organization, presents the $10,000 cash award through the support of American Farmland Trust, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Farm Credit East, The Ida and Robert Gordon Family Foundation, Audubon New York, New York Farm Bureau, McDonald’s, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the New York State Agribusiness Association.

Last year’s recipient was Dygert Farms of Palatine Bridge. For more information on the award, visit www.leopoldconservationaward.org.