HURLEY – Less than four months ago it was announced that Gill Farm was being sold to the Local Economies Project of the New World Foundation and would be transformed into a farm hub to support agriculture throughout the region. As spring timidly emerges from the icy clutches of winter, a picture of what that will look like is also coming into focus.

Much of the early planning has centered around local farmers, according to Brooke Pickering-Cole, manager of community relations. As she wrote on the Local Economies Project website, "Conversations from January through March with the Rondout Valley Growers Association and our partner organizations have centered around a multitude of topics ranging from the challenges of climate change to the mechanics of wholesale markets. Throughout these sessions we've been exploring important questions that will inform program design. How will the farm business incubator relate to local markets? How can we build on the already deep knowledge base that exists in the region? What specific research projects will be most valuable to established farmers?"

While the farm stand will be open in July again this year, meaning little will be different for local consumers, the hub is embarking on ambitious research projects behind the scenes. Much of the work this year will focus on grains, Pickering-Cole explained. For one, "We are starting a grain corn rotation, using a heritage corn called 'Bloody Butcher' which is used to make bourbon," she said. The corn, named for its brilliant red color, will begin a three-year rotation with a goal of making it into an organic crop. Distilling alcohol in the Hudson Valley has become a more popular business model in recent years.

Perhaps more ambitious is a research project to determine how best to reintroduce small grains to the agricultural mix. Grain farming declined over a period of decades to the point where it's virtually unheard of, but the farm hub is planning several small-plot trials of varieties of wheat and barley.

"There are issues with climate and humidity," Pickering-Cole said. "The end goal is to give farmers the information they need to revive grain growing; there's considerable interest coming from artisan bakers and brewers." The most successful varieties will be tested on larger plots, with the entire research project mapped out for four years.

One of those interested artisan bakers is Lisa Jones, who has spearheaded her own local grains project under the auspices of Transition Marbletown. Or, as Jones explained, "I am the project." The Transition Town movement supports individuals who have a passion for a specific project that build resiliency, and Jones is passionate about grain. "What I do if I catch wind of anyone interested is I reach out to them and offer support for their initiative." She knows of two or three farmers in the Marbletown area who are starting to experiment with grain, she said.

Jones is unabashedly excited by the farm hub's interest in grains, which she anticipates will accelerate the process of returning them to the Rondout Valley.

"That the farm hub independently created this project, writing a white paper on local grains that says there is a market and potential is very gratifying," she noted. "They are backing up with data what I've believed all along."

While the farm hub's extensive research is going to take several years, Jones said that she knows of farmers who are actively looking for markets for this year, meaning grain is certainly making a comeback.