Building on the Legacy

THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE held the farm only ten years. It determined that an urban university was not the best steward for its agricultural and environmental purposes.

In 1997 USM turned it over to the non-profit foundation that carries its mission forward today in new and expanded ways.

In the early 2000s, the farm pioneered a precedent-setting marketing program for organic beef that served farmers from the Mississippi River on the west to Washington, D.C. on the south. In effect it created a large-scale version of LMC’s satellite farm program, setting the high Wolfe’s Neck Farm standards for all the meat sold through the program. It was an example of how a nonprofit, supported by an endowment, could pioneer a risky startup that a commercial farm could not. In 2007 the farm turned over what had become a major beef business operation beyond its nonprofit purposes and capacity to Pineland Farms, where it continues today.

In 2015 the farm saw an opportunity to support new ventures in organic farming. It accepted a $1.7 million dollar grant from Stonyfield Organic, the largest organic yogurt company in the United States, to create the nation’s first residential research and training program for organic dairy farmers. The farm’s new dairy complex is open to the public today.

To better represent the farm’s expanded enterprises and focus on work happening in the intersection of agriculture/food and environment/climate, the Wolfe’s Neck Farm Foundation began in 2017 to operate under the name Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment.

The Center has built upon its work locally and added some larger, national initiatives in an effort to reduce the impact of agriculture on climate change through the practices of regenerative agriculture. A central goal is keeping more carbon in the soil. Multi-million-dollar public and private grants now support research and networks of partner organizations and farmers across the nation, based at Wolfe’s Neck Center, who are working together to carry out the best new practices. The Center is now pledged to “Transforming our relationship with farming and food for a healthier planet.”

Wolfe’s Neck Center endeavors to work in the visionary, enterprising, and innovative spirit that the Smiths brought to their creation, way ahead of their time in so many ways. While its mission is now national, even international, in scope, its land and facilities are open to the public daily, valuing its role as a community center for Freeport and the region. Its local programming serves local schools, youth, and adults. Thousands of children and their families have memories of the farm’s summer day camp over the decades. And just over 14,000 annual visitors to the campground continue to enjoy nature and access to the ocean. Locals and visitors gather at the Farm Café to share farm produce. Hikers and dog walkers enjoy its trails and the unpaved, country lane that is Burnett Road, an old country path that surely follows the trail for native Abenaki people between Wolfe’s Neck and Flying Point.

The Smith Center for Research and Education stands on the footprint of Mrs. Smith’s much- loved 1980s barn, no longer needed for the beef herd of her day, but now the heart of the center’s innovative work toward the best future for farming and the planet. There are reasons to believe that Lawrence M.C. and Eleanor Houston Smith might be pleased.