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SANDY PERRY, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
PHONE: 908-234-1225, EXT. 104
SANDY@NJCONSERVATION.ORG

A legacy preserved in Warren County

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON TWP., NJ – At least four generations of the Sigler family worked on the 62-acre dairy farm in the rolling hills of Warren County’s Musconetcong River Valley, their home for the better part of a century.

Although none of the current generation has chosen to continue farming, the land they love will always remain in agriculture.

New Jersey Conservation Foundation and its funding partners have purchased the Sigler farm and placed a permanent agricultural easement on the land. The deed-restricted Washington Township farm now can be re-sold to a farmer, thus preserving the character of the land in perpetuity.

New Jersey Conservation Foundation is currently advertising the farm, and plans to hold an open house in September for neighbors and potential buyers. Once the farm is sold, proceeds will be returned to the funding partners.

“We’re very pleased to have preserved this beauty of a farm, which was in jeopardy of being developed for housing,” said Ingrid Vandegaer, Highlands regional manager for New Jersey Conservation Foundation. “It’s surrounded by more than 400 acres of preserved farmland, so it would have been a shame to see it fall to sprawl.”

New Jersey Conservation Foundation purchased the Cemetery Hill Road property from the four daughters of the late Russell Jr. and Anna Sigler, who had operated the dairy farm for many years after buying it from Russell’s parents. Russell Sigler Jr. died in 1980, and his wife passed away in 2006.

Doris Sigler Hoagland, executrix of her mother’s estate, said she and her sisters weren’t interested in following in their parents’ and grandparents’ footsteps by farming for a living, although all have fond memories of working on the dairy farm as youngsters.

“We used to get up early in the morning and milk the cows before we went to school,” recalled Hoagland, noting that her parents kept a herd of some 60 Holstein cows. “In the afternoon after school, we’d do more work. We all had our chores.” In addition to milking and taking care of the cows, there were fields of feed crops – corn, wheat, oats and hay – to be tended.

Hoagland added that she and her sisters were 4-H members and raised their own calves – usually other dairy breeds such as Guernseys and Brown Swiss. “That’s one of the best memories we have,” she said. After the sisters grew up and married, the three who remained in New Jersey often brought their own children – the fourth generation - to the farm to help out.

“It was a good life,” commented Hoagland, who as recently as last summer grew hay on a portion of the farm.

Still, none of sisters or their children wanted to make farming their livelihood. After Anna Sigler died, Hoagland knew she had to sell the land, although she “wasn’t keen on” the thought of having houses sprout out of the family’s pastures and fields. A housing development has already been built on one side of the farm.

That might have been the fate of the Sigler farm had New Jersey Conservation Foundation not approached Hoagland about buying the farm. The parties settled on a price of $1.28 million, and New Jersey Conservation Foundation was able to raise the money through grants from the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC), Warren County, Washington Township and the private non-profit Victoria Foundation.

“It was a great partnership between all these levels of government and a private foundation,” said Vandegaer, noting that some of the SADC funds came from a federal grant. She added that the Sigler purchase represents the first time Victoria Foundation funds have been used for farmland preservation.

"The preservation of the Sigler farm underscores the fact that farmland preservation is very much a partnership effort," said Agriculture Secretary Charles M. Kuperus, who chairs the State Agriculture Development Committee. "We're pleased to assist in the permanent protection of this farm, which builds on our efforts in a very active farmland preservation area and will ensure that agriculture remains an important part of the community here for generations to come."

“The Sigler farm is a strategic farm to preserve,” pointed out Mayor David Dempski of Washington Township. “It fills in the ‘doughnut’ that allows for contiguous farming on prime soils. Washington Township is grateful to our funding partners, with special thanks to New Jersey Conservation Foundation, whose leadership made it possible.”

Janice Reid, assistant state conservationist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, was also supportive of the project.

“The Natural Resources Conservation Service is pleased to be able to support New Jersey’s farmland preservation efforts with funds provided through USDA’s Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP),” said Reid “The Sigler farm contains highly productive soils that will now be protected from conversion to any non-agricultural use through the preservation deed. FRPP provided 20 percent of the funds needed for this acquisition, and celebrates with New Jersey Conservation Foundation the 116th New Jersey farm to receive funding through this program.”

Hoagland said she feels good about preserving the farm, and thinks her parents would have agreed with the decision. “There’s no doubt in my mind that they would,” she said. “It’s better to see farms than houses.”

Hoagland’s grandparents, Russell and Jennie Sigler, bought the dairy farm in the early 1900s – possibly from other relatives, although Hoagland hasn’t had time to research the family tree. Hoagland’s parents took over in the early 1940s.

“They were very dedicated farmers,” recalled Hoagland. “Mom was right there alongside Dad. That was their entire living, there on the farm.”

For more information about the Sigler farm, contact Vandegaer at 908-234-1225, ext. 113, or Ingrid@njconservation.org.