Fabius Greenwood Farm: Where People Come First and Hard Work Works

Fabius Greenwood Farm is a family story that started with one man, a piece of land, and a belief that hard work is worth it. In 1977, the Van Erden brothers' father started East View Farms just over the hill. Decades later, his two sons, Mark and Dave, would carry that work forward onto a farm of their own.

Mark and Dave grew up on the farm, riding along in tractors with their father and spending their days around the cows and the barns. For Mark, making farming his career was never really a question. He loved it as a kid, and he still does.

When the family purchased Fabius Greenwood in 2003, the next chapter began. Dave graduated soon after and stepped straight into his professional career on the farm. What began as an expansion from East View has been in the brothers' hands ever since.

In the years since, the farm has grown in nearly every way. Cow numbers have climbed. The business has grown stronger. And along the way, Fabius Greenwood has created jobs for people across the local community. For Dave, that matters deeply. Building something that supports his neighbors as well as his own family is one of the things he's proudest of.

Ask Mark what keeps a farm this size running, and the answer is simple. People come first. No one person can be everywhere at once, so what makes it work is a reliable, dependable team he can trust to watch over things and do right by the farm. That trust is what lets Fabius Greenwood operate as successfully as it does.

Mark is honest that working with people hasn't always come easily. It has been challenging at times, but as he's grown into it, it's become one of the most rewarding parts of the job. He points to the close sense of team at Fabius Greenwood as something genuinely special, a group that works well together so the farm can provide for everyone in it.

That teamwork shows up in the long days, too. Every September, the crew puts in long hours chopping corn at just the right moisture. They harvest the whole plant, ear, stalk, and leaves, and chop it into fine pieces that get mixed into the herd's feed and stored to nourish the cows through the year.

For the Van Erdens, the farm has always been about more than the work itself. It's where the kids and extended family gather, and where the next generation gets to grow up the way Mark and Dave did. Keeping the farm healthy enough to pass down is part of their mission.

Dave's favorite part of working on a dairy farm is the challenge. There's a new problem to solve every single day, and he likes it that way. Mark feels the same about what's ahead. He's excited to adapt to new technologies and practices and to keep meeting the needs of the families who count on their milk.

What Mark hopes people understand is how much care goes into all of it. The farm works closely with its people, its animals, and the land, and takes the responsibility of caring for all three seriously. As Dave puts it, they work hard to provide nutritious food for other families because hard work works. It's a lesson they learned from their parents, and it's one they're passing on.

Mark and Dave Van Erden have built something worth being proud of, together, as brothers and as a team. In every sense, they are New York Dairy.

Watch our spotlight video on Fabius Greenwood Farm here: https://youtu.be/lRbWKxtK1hQ