Wolfe’s Neck Center is a place like no other.
Open year-round at no cost, anyone can experience the magic of this land we steward. Today, our more than 600-acre campus is the foundation of our work to identify solutions to one of our most pressing challenges: a changing climate. Agriculture is currently one of the biggest contributors to climate change, which also makes it one of our biggest opportunities for solutions. And yet, less than 5% of philanthropic contributions addressing climate change go toward agricultural solutions.
This year, we updated our mission to better reflect the impact of our work: Creating a world where agriculture and food systems support farmer viability, thriving ecosystems, and vibrant communities.
We see transformative potential in our work at every scale: from apprenticeships in our dairy and farm experiences for kids, to regional networks and national initiatives to change whole food systems. In 2024, we built partnerships that have moved our growing scope of work forward — faster than we would be able to on our own:
Supporting Farmers: We continued our work providing financial support and technical assistance to help farmers across the U.S. adopt regenerative practices that rebuild soil, protect ecosystems, and make farms more resilient. Over the next three years, we’ll develop at least 385 projects from Maine to South Carolina and California to Montana. At least 40% of these projects will be with historically underserved populations, including BIPOC, new, veteran, LGBTQI+, and small-scale farmers.
Changing Supply Chains: We are partnering with food companies and retailers to bring climate-smart practices into their supply chains. For example, by helping our partner almond farmers transition to regenerative practices and integrating these farmers into KIND Snacks’ supply chain, we support the company’s goal of sourcing 100% of their almonds from regenerative sources by 2030.
Growing Networks: We are leading a growing coalition of grazing-focused organizations to significantly expand managed grazing systems across New England and eastern New York in partnership with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Managed rotational grazing systems involve the strategic movement of livestock across pastures to improve soil health, support biodiversity, build climate resilience, and reduce the environmental impacts of livestock production.
Providing Connections to Nature and Agriculture: We gave meaningful outdoor learning experiences to more than 1,600 children and worked in partnership with the Maine Department of Education’s Maine Outdoor Learning Initiative, public schools from South Portland to Lewiston/Auburn, and others to increase access to farm-based education. Additionally, we welcomed more than 40,000 annual visitors to experience our trails, tide pools, and food and educational events.
Identifying Solutions: We regularly participate in interdisciplinary, multi-partner research collaborations that provide real-world data which we share with farmers and the public through our educational program offerings. For example, we worked with Stonyfield and Bigelow Laboratory on trials of adding seaweed to cow feed, showing a significant methane reduction. We’ll continue trials this year to understand the impact of the seaweed additive on animal health and milk quality.
The need for this work has never been greater. We are leveraging our unique position as a farm-based organization to work in partnership — with farmers, ranchers, researchers, schools, state agencies, and others — and make change at the urgent pace and scale the climate crisis demands.
We’re grateful to our community from Maine to California and beyond that has helped 2024 be a year of transformative progress.
Onward to 2025!
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