Photos by Linda Campos

Three months before a pandemic seems like an unfortunate time to buy a farm. Yet being a successful farmer requires adaptability, which Chris Grant has in spades. He grew up on Essex’s Bothways Farm, where his extended family lived, worked and farmed. 

“My brother, sister and cousins were all really good at sports,” Grant says. “And then there was me. I helped with the vegetable garden and with the chickens, and then would show them at the Topsfield Fair in the fall. That was my sport.”

Grant thrived at Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School. An entrepreneurship program with Future Farmers of America led him to form Grant’s Plants in 2006, growing many of the plants in a handed-down greenhouse. Through the program he learned crucial aspects of owning a successful farm, from creating a business plan to honing his financial and communication skills. 

While Grant worked on degrees in fruit and vegetable crop production and then plant and soil sciences at UMass Stockbridge School of Agriculture, Grant’s Plants became a vendor at the Salem Farmers Market. Grant shuttled back and forth from campus to his plants to the market. The farm became Grant Family Farm, focused on retail and began selling pasture-raised chickens and eggs. These were unique offerings from Essex County then, so they became his entry ticket to other markets. Grant soon determined that to succeed long-term he needed to find more land.

“I had to have some uncomfortable and upfront conversations when I was looking for land. I would ask fellow farmers and landowners what they wanted their legacy to be when they couldn’t farm any longer. Did they want someone to keep the land working? Or leave it to chance and fall away to development?”

In January 2019, Grant contacted the owners of Brown Spring Farm in West Newbury, a property he’d long had his eye on but that seemed financially out of reach. He and partner Alice Tonry met with Essex County Greenbelt and proposed a plan for purchasing and protecting the land forever. Grant would grant an Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) in return for ECG Land Trust and West  Newbury CPA Funds. The Commonwealth’s APR program involves paying farmers the difference between the fair market and agricultural values of their land in return for a permanent deed restriction preventing use of the property in ways that would impact its agricultural viability. By December the APR was signed, ECG and CPA funds were in place and Grant had a loan from the USDA Farm Service Agency. At age 29, he purchased the farm. Three months later, COVID hit. 

Grant notes, “There was even more uncertainty in a business that already has so much uncertainty. We had a hard time getting seeds. It was hard to determine how much we needed to grow or if there even would be farmers markets. But so many people were at home and cooking, and the farmers markets were outside. We reopened the farm stand on the property that spring, entirely on the honor system 24 hours a day, and people were incredibly supportive.”

Grant Family Farm continues to grow and evolve. In addition to fruits, vegetables and flowers, they sell eggs from free-range hens tended to by his mom. Grant continues to learn from older farmer friends, with an eye toward investing back in the business and saving for retirement. Expanding the farm stand and improving efficiency are the main goals.

“Owning the property, and growing the farm with Alice and our combined farming experience gives us the ability to make really thoughtful long-term decisions,” he says. “Knowing that the farm is no longer threatened by development is a security I have never really had before.” Next fall Chris and Alice will marry at another farm—Tonry Tree Farm in southern New Hampshire, owned by Alice and her family. 

Grant Family Farm is located at 866 Main Street in West Newbury. They’re also at the Marblehead and Swampscott Farmers Markets. Follow them on Instagram at @grantfamilyfarm for additional locations and some really spectacular photos. 

grantfamilyfarm.com