Backer Farm In Mendham Is Certified As River-Friendly

MENDHAM, NJ — Backer Farm, a local family-run preserved farm, was awarded a River-Friendly Certified Farm sign in recognition of their farm's improvements and conservation efforts.

On Monday, April 24, Laura Tessieri, Executive Director for North Jersey Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) spoke before the township committee alongside Tim Dunne, the River Friendly Farm Certifier.

The Backer family applied to the River-Friendly Farm Certification Program in January 2023. The River Friendly Farm Certification promotes environmentally friendly farms and recognizes farmers who are good stewards of their land and the water resources around them.

Certification began as a joint project of the New Jersey Water Supply Authority and North Jersey RC&D, with funding from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJ DEP) and the New Jersey Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

Becoming a certified farm is a voluntary way for agricultural producers and food companies to respond to increasing customer demand for traceability, transparency, and social and environmental responsibility.

Recently, Backer Farm has come up against criticism from residents as it seeks to add a brewery operation on its property, with citizens protesting potential environmental and cultural impacts.

The new certification commits to protecting waterways by preventing farmyard run-off from contaminating local water resources, preventing pest spread and reducing pesticide use, and preventing erosion while improving soil quality.

At Monday's committee meeting, Dunne went through all the practices that the Backer Farm currently applies, meeting all the requirements for the river-friendly certification.

"As far as waterway conservation, there are adequate buffers all around the farm. Any area that is cropped, pastured, or a farmstead has dense, thick perennial vegetation that protects wetlands and the small tributary of the north branch of the Raritan River that flows on the western boundary of the farm," Dunne said.

The Backer family, who have lived in Mendham for over 90 years, currently raises beef, pork, and chicken on their farm, as well as fruits and vegetables.

Following the initial certification of the family farm, the Backer family will be required to meet the criteria year after year in order to be re-certified, according to officials.