Mithva Farm: A Family That Stayed Close to the Land and to Each Other
In New Woodstock, a small town in Central New York, the Hirt family has worked the same land since 1902. The farm was purchased more than a century ago by an earlier generation, and it has stayed in the family ever since. Kyle Hirt is the fifth generation to farm here. His daughters are the sixth.
Kyle and his wife, Lisa, both grew up on farms. As children of dairy farmers, they shared similar upbringings, with chores before school and long days in the barn. When they had children of their own, they wanted the same thing for them. So about ten years ago, they took a leap of faith and moved back to the farm.
It has been amazing to watch, Lisa says. Her daughters have thrown themselves into more activities than she ever imagined being part of at their age, and watching what they are capable of has been its own kind of inspiration. For Kyle, the gift is getting to see his kids grow up much the way he and Lisa did. The family works side by side, and they get along. After so many years of that, he still counts it a blessing.
For Abigail, the older of the two daughters, that closeness is one of the best parts of farm life. She finds it steadying to know her dad is never more than a tractor seat away, and that her two uncles are always right there beside her. Family is not somewhere else for the Hirts. It is right here, in the barn and the field, every day. Maggie, the youngest, measures it in the small things, in the joking around and the funny moments and the habit of living in the moment.
At fifteen, Abigail has become one of the farm's most active voices to the outside world. She started posting videos of her days because social media is where her generation lives, which makes it the best way to get her story out. Most people who find her online have no idea that there are fifteen-year-olds out there in a barn from sunrise to sunset every day. That is exactly why she keeps sharing. She has also learned how often the work is misunderstood. One comment stays with her more than the rest, the idea that farmers do not care for their animals. Every time she hears it, it lands like a stab in the heart. "I love my cows," she says. "I know that I care for them better than I care for myself."
She and her sister are already picturing the future, and they're excited to keep growing the farm. Both of them plan to carry it forward, whether that means opening a creamery of their own or making the operation more adaptable and sustainable with a new parlor or robotic milking. The work has always evolved here, and they expect it to keep evolving in their hands.
Abigail says she loves telling people she is the sixth generation of Mithva Farm, because it is something she is proud of. That pride is the throughline of this family, passed down the same way the land has been, one generation at a time. The Hirts are New York dairy.
Watch our spotlight video on Mithva Farm here: https://youtu.be/o7UgrB7qaFU
