MERRIMAC — Birch Meadow Road, typically a quiet dirt path without many visitors, was streaked with fresh tread marks from a long line of cars parked roadside.
Guests gathered beside a red-doored barn and an aged wooden house that welcomed them to the property. With tightened boot straps, the outdoorsy adventurers ascended into tall grasses and rough terrain, halting atop Red Oak Hill, which is the highest hill in all of Merrimac.
They paused and gazed back at their climb, witnessing a breeze sweep over the wavering greenery along the hillside. The walk offered folks much more than an escape into nature, but a better understanding of the land’s significance — which is something one nonprofit aims to preserve.
On Wednesday, Essex County Greenbelt, a regional nonprofit, hosted its first public tour of Hoyt Farm, a sprawling 122-acre property of farmland and wetlands. The property includes wetlands feeding the East Meadow River, a primary water source for Haverhill.
It’s one of the largest and the final unprotected single-owner farms in Essex County.
“Farmland across the region and across the state has begun rapidly disappearing in recent years,” said Vanessa Johnson-Hall, director of Land Conservation at Greenbelt.
“Aging farmland owners without successors, skyrocketing land values that put unprotected farmland out of reach for new farmers, and growing housing pressures are making farms prime targets for development.”
The land sits just across the road from the longtime home of owner George W. Hoyt, who greeted guests before the guided walk began.
In 1863, Hoyt’s great-grandfather purchased the property and for two centuries the family operated a bustling dairy farm. But after the farm was passed down through generations, upkeep and covering its costs have proven difficult for the modern-day Hoyts.
This is where Greenbelt swooped in to lend a helping farmhand.
The organization works to conserve natural land across the region, protecting 22,000 acres since its inception in 1961. With another sale agreement signed, Greenbelt intends to purchase and protect Hoyt Farm with a seven-figure price tag.
Johnson-Hall said that the group intends to raise approximately $1 million to buy 100 acres of Hoyt Farm before a June 15 deadline. Greenbelt had previously secured 22 acres of Hoyt property with a $400,000 purchase in 2023.
A boost from the state’s Conservation Partnership Grant supplied the buyers with an additional $300,000, drawing them closer to closing on the sale. At the end of Wednesday’s tour, Greenbelt announced that only $25,000 needed to be raised to fully acquire the farmland.
“In addition to preserving this vibrant farm for agricultural use and ensuring access to fresh, locally grown food, protecting the property will enable Greenbelt to expand public trails,” said Johnson-Hall.
In acquiring the land, she said the nonprofit has Hoyt’s best interest in mind – letting the farm remain a farm.
Hoyt said that due to his deep roots, he’d hate to see what was once a family business reshaped by a big-time developer company.
“I was born, and my brother, and my sister were born, all in this same place,” Hoyt said.
“You put your heart and sweat into it; all of them years, and then you see nothing but houses? That’s heartbreaking.”
Despite his love for the land, the burden of ownership has become heavy as the farm is no longer a full-scale operation. To help, family friends and farmers Walter and Stephanie Leciszka rent a portion of the land. Plenty of the product on sale at their Haverhill farmstand, Wally’s Vegetables, is grown on the acres they lease in Merrimac.
If Greenbelt becomes the owner of the land, Johnson-Hall said the organization will continue leasing it to the Leciszkas. That way, the acreage will remain commercial farmland and be classified under 61A, which offers a tax break to landowners due to agricultural use.