KEENE VALLEY -- This year's winner of the Glynwood Farmer Award is Robert Hastings, the farm manager at Rivermede Farm in Keene Valley.

Recognized for his exceptional agricultural innovations and his community leadership, he has pioneered advances in season extension, creating techniques that have extended his short growing season to a year-round operation using 10 greenhouses and high tunnels to grow vegetables and fruits.

His six years at Penn State specializing in tissue culture has helped him produce pesticide-free tomatoes through grafting techniques. This year, he installed a photovoltaic system for the farm's electrical needs and is finishing plans to heat the greenhouses with a geothermal system. His hope is to be 90 per cent independent of oil use within the next three years.

Hastings is strongly committed to the philosophy that sharing innovation and successes with his fellow farmers makes for a stronger agricultural community. His generosity of spirit has helped build a strong direct-marketing community. His most recent project was to open a farm store that serves as a retail outlet for his and other farmers' products and that helps educate visitors about the importance of supporting local farms.

He is a founding board member of Adirondack Harvest and sits on the Cornell advisory committee to prioritize grant funding for agricultural projects. He is also committed to mentoring and propelling the next generation of farmers, and he has worked to conduct outreach to farmers across seven counties.

Glynwood, a not-for-profit organization that helps communities save farming and conserve farmland by empowering them through educational and community-based agricultural initiatives, will honor the winners of its sixth national Harvest Awards on Oct. 27 at Beacon restaurant in New York City.

Fred Kirschenmann, organic farmer, educator, distinguished fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, and the president of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, will receive the first annual Glynwood Medal for Distinguished Leadership in Sustainable Agriculture. He will present the keynote address at the luncheon, which will feature a menu of locally produced foods prepared by top chefs from New York City and the Hudson Valley.

The Harvest Awards were created by Glynwood in 2003 to highlight the creative work by individuals and organizations from across the country that do an exceptional job of supporting local and regional agriculture and increasing access to fresh, healthy food. The awards help to identify and promote "best practice" ideas with the goal of inspiring others to take action within their own communities and build urban-rural coalitions in support of regional farms.

"It is a testament to the growth of the sustainable-agriculture movement that Glynwood received over 60 nominations from more than 20 states to consider for our sixth annual Harvest Awards," said Judith LaBelle, president of Glynwood Center.

"We are inspired to see a continued raising of the bar as to what is regarded as special and exemplary from our candidates. This year we saw a trend toward efforts designed to encourage increased production of food in urban areas and to expand access to underserved communities. There has also been an increase in projects designed to bring farming back to regions that until recently had been written off and in the development of innovative techniques that work to extend the farming season in regions where the growing months had previously been considered too short to bother."

To find out more about Glynwood and it agricultural initiatives, visit www.glynwood.org.