The 1,000 acres that comprise Appleton Farms in Hamilton and Ipswich, Massachusetts -- half of which are farm land and half are Trustees of Reservations' forest -- are not only the site of the oldest continually run farming operation in the United States, but also forerunner in the sustainable agriculture movement.

Today the farm produces about 12,000 pounds of grain-fed beef and 50,000 gallons of growth hormone-free milk. It also supports New England’s second largest CSA (community supported agriculture) with between 500 and 800 annual shares. But Appleton Farms also boasts solar thermal energy for dairy and other operations, is currently reconstructing the original "Old House" to LEED Gold standards, and has compiled 18 months of wind speed testing data for a turbine project that could produce up to 100,000 kilowatt hours.

"Ultimately, the primary objective of our agricultural practices and programs is for the farm to become carbon neutral," said Wayne Castonguay, former Appleton Farms manager and now director for the Massachusetts Center for Agriculture and the Environment.

Agriculture is widely recognized as a leading contributer to climate change, is one of the top consumers of the world’s natural resources (water, fossil fuels, and so on) and is a major source of chemical pollution. However, for nearly 375 years, Appleton Farms is no stranger to sustainability having continued to perform tasks the Earth-friendly way, such as moving cows from pasture to pasture to feed and maintaining a small-scale operation despite what some agricultural giants might consider underutilized farm land.

Appleton Farms has not only purchased an electric ATV, fueled equipment with biodiesel, and grown crops without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides and with aged animal manure compost and organics, but has also performed some serious carbon footprint accounting in order to achieve elusive NetZero carbon emissions.

Analyzing each and every carbon source, volunteer modelers and an energy efficiency audit determined the farm’s annual carbon footprint to be 381 metric tons. Through planned energy reductions, renewable electricity production, and carbon sequestration projects, Castonguay said the farm is on track to achieve NetZero by the end of 2011. To date, changes made have reduced annual output to less than 184 metric tons of carbon.

Appleton Farms also leads innovation in farm-savvy practical ways, such as with a $1,200 heat exchanger system that captures natural waste heat from cow milking and reuses it later. “It’s a double payback,” and the best energy retrofit on the farm, so far, said Castonguay.

NetZero planning at Appleton Farms touches all tasks, even general farm tidying. Three advanced outdoor wood burners will help heat the sustainably reconstructed 1794/1872 farmhouse (without smoke or particulates, according to Castonguay). “Just keeping the place clean generates enough wood,” he said.

For more information, read about Appleton Farms CSA or the "Old house" Deep Energy Rettrofit Project, and to visit the forest, see Trustees of Reservations.