Hudson Valley farm to close despite demand for food

The owner of a Hudson Valley farm says despite the demand for food, their business is unable to survive the COVID-19 pandemic and has decided to close.

News 12 Staff

Apr 1, 2020, 9:44 PM

Updated 1,498 days ago

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The owner of a Hudson Valley farm says despite the demand for food, their business is unable to survive the COVID-19 pandemic and has decided to close.
Pawelski Farm in Goshen has come to a standstill after 100 years of onion growing.
"The price went down to 1980s levels. I was selling for $6 a bag,” says Chris Pawelski, of Pawelski Farms.
Pawelski, a fourth-generation farmer, made the decision to let go of his struggling business this week.
"I feel like I disappointed my father. I feel like I let him down,” he says.
Times have changed since Pawelski inherited his family farm. The cost of business is up while the price of onions is down - an economic climate that's proven to be too much for the small-town farm, already hard hit by multiple natural disasters.
"1998 was a big hail storm that wiped us down. There was a drought in 99,” he says. “Irene and Lee in 2011 came at the worst point."
Pawelski says he's simply not financially able to withstand the economic crisis.
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