THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE MILL
FARM GENERAL MANAGER
Jay Goldmark
Steering a complex farm system with a steady hand, grounded in real agriculture and long-term thinking
Jay oversees the full agricultural system at Stone House Grain, managing 3,000 acres of organic grain production, the feed mill, and several hundred grass-fed beef yearlings. His work spans long-term planning and day-to-day problem solving, from crop rotation strategy and field scouting to working closely with team leads and supporting customer needs alongside the commercial team. He plays a central role in keeping the farm aligned, making small, thoughtful adjustments that keep a large and complex operation moving in the right direction.
Jay grew up on an 8,000-acre, third-generation wheat and cattle ranch out west, where farming became the lens through which he understands the world. He later studied philosophy and writing, bringing a deeper sense of reflection and care for people into his work. He was drawn to Stone House Grain by the scale of the land and the opportunity to build something meaningful through organic grain farming. He believes that the work matters most when it is done alongside people who share a commitment to the land, to each other, and to doing things in a way that is honest, steady, and built to last.
Contact Jay
FEED STORE SALES
Jeanine Earnhart
Helping farmers and homesteaders find the right feed through experience, relationships, and nearly two decades in organic animal nutrition.
Jeanine Earnhart works directly with Stone House Grain customers every day, helping farmers, homesteaders, and livestock owners navigate feed programs, deliveries, and animal nutrition decisions with practical guidance rooted in real experience. With more than 18 years in the organic feed world, she brings deep operational knowledge alongside firsthand experience raising laying hens, broilers, pigs, and goats on her own homestead.
Before joining Stone House Grain, Jeanine spent 15 years co-managing Lightning Tree Farm, a respected organic feed mill in Dutchess County, New York. Over the years, she built long-standing relationships throughout the regional farming community, many of which naturally carried over to Stone House Grain when Lightning Tree closed in 2023. For Jeanine, the work has always been about more than feed. It is about helping people care for their animals well, supporting healthier farms, and building real relationships with the people behind them.
Contact Jeanine
COMMERCIAL MANAGER
Andrew Currie
A farmer at heart, building the systems that make strong farms more resilient
Andrew leads commercial operations at Stone House Grain, working at the intersection of customer relationships, logistics, and the systems that support reliable feed supply. He brings a rare combination of hands-on farming experience and deep operational and financial expertise, helping ensure that the mill can serve farms with consistency, clarity, and long-term stability. His work focuses on building practical systems that translate real farm demand into dependable delivery and sustainable growth.
Andrew grew up in Pennsylvania in a farming family and moved with his own growing family to the Hudson Valley to be part of what Stone House Grain is building. Alongside his agricultural background, he brings experience in systems design and operational infrastructure, helping develop tools and workflows that improve how the business operates and how farms are supported. His approach reflects a belief that strong farms depend not only on quality feed, but on trusted relationships, dependable systems, and a shared commitment to regional agriculture.
Contact Andrew
FEED PRODUCTION MANAGER
Herb Phillips
Grounded in hard work, reliability, and a deep respect for the animals and farms that depend on quality feed every day
Herb oversees feed production operations at Stone House Grain, helping ensure that every order leaving the mill is produced accurately, safely, and consistently. With decades of experience across equipment operation, logistics, production systems, and customer-facing work, he plays a critical role in keeping the mill running smoothly and reliably. From coordinating bulk deliveries to operating heavy machinery and maintaining production standards, Herb brings a steady, practical approach to the work and takes pride in helping farms receive dependable, high-quality nutrition for their animals.
Herb is deeply aligned with Stone House Grain’s mission and believes strongly in supporting local farms, regional agriculture, and environmental stability. He has a lifelong love of animals and finds real fulfillment in helping meet their nutritional needs through thoughtful, well-made feed. Outside the mill, he enjoys mountain biking, welding and fabrication work, landscaping, and organized endurance events, including completing the Marine Corps Marathon and multiple half marathons. Known for his loyalty, strong values, and willingness to help others, Herb brings the same consistency and care to his work that farmers depend on in their own operations.
ASSISTANT MILLER
Lenny Hamilton
Helping produce organic feed with a deep belief that healthy soil creates healthier animals, healthier farms, and healthier communities.
Lenny works as part of the mill team at Stone House Grain, helping produce, bag, stack, and prepare organic livestock feed for farms and homesteads across the region. His day-to-day work ranges from operating inside the mill and wrapping pallets to helping customers load feed and supporting the operational flow of the facility. Before joining Stone House Grain, Lenny worked at another organic feed mill and spent more than a decade as an Assistant Head Groundskeeper at a state college, while also growing food organically at home since the late 1990s.
For Lenny, organic agriculture starts with the soil itself. He believes the life and energy of healthy soil gets passed along to everything that grows from it, from crops and feed to animals and people. After becoming a Stone House Grain customer himself, he was drawn to the farm’s commitment to improving soil health and producing organic feed with long-term impact in mind. He often describes the work as “baby steps,” believing that small improvements made consistently over time can help build a healthier future for farms, food, and communities.
OFFICE MANAGER & BOOKKEEPER
Nikki Bower
Helping keep the systems behind the farm steady, organized, and dependable so the work in the field and mill can keep moving forward
Nikki manages the day-to-day financial and administrative operations at Stone House Grain, supporting everything from vendor relationships and customer accounts to reporting, billing, purchasing, and internal team coordination. With more than 20 years of experience in finance and accounting, she brings consistency, attention to detail, and operational discipline to a fast-moving agricultural environment. Her work helps ensure the farm, feed mill, and broader team have the structure and support needed to operate smoothly and reliably.
Having lived in the Hudson Valley her entire life and grown up around local fruit farms, Nikki feels a deep connection to the region’s agricultural community. She was drawn to Stone House Grain not only because of the mission and quality of the work, but because of the people and culture behind it. She believes strongly in supporting neighboring farms, strengthening local food systems, and producing feed in a way that contributes positively to the land rather than depleting it. For Nikki, Stone House Grain represents a model of agriculture that values community, environmental responsibility, and long-term stewardship of the region.
Contact Nikki
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Lou Zapp
Helping manage the complexity of large-scale organic grain farming through planning, problem solving, and hands-on operational leadership.
Lou oversees day-to-day farm operations at Stone House Grain, helping coordinate everything from crop planning and organic compliance to equipment maintenance, grain movement, field operations, and feed mill support. His role touches nearly every part of the farm business, organizing workflows across teams while helping ensure the operation runs efficiently through the constant unpredictability of farming in the Hudson Valley. When challenges arise — whether mechanical breakdowns, emergency grain movement, or operational bottlenecks — Lou is often the person solving them in real time.
Raised on a dairy farm in West Taghkanic, Lou combines deep agricultural roots with an engineering background and a systems-oriented mindset. Before returning to farming during Covid, he worked as a structural engineer designing crane plans, temporary structures, and construction systems for major projects throughout New York City and the surrounding region. Today, he brings that same problem-solving mentality to Stone House Grain, where he is driven by the complexity, adaptability, and constant evolution required to operate a large-scale organic grain farm successfully. Outside the farm, Lou enjoys coaching his children’s baseball and softball teams and recently began serving on the HCSD school board.
FIELD CROPS TEAM LEAD
Skip McCagg
“Take pride in what you do, and work to improve organic growing.”
Skip has been part of Stone House Grain since 1987, helping support the field operations that keep the farm moving season after season. Raised on a farm himself, his work is rooted in practical agricultural experience, equipment operation, and the steady rhythm of field work that sits behind every successful harvest.
He believes strongly in taking pride in the work and in constantly improving how organic crops are grown. That long-term mindset and consistency are part of what helps keep Stone House Grain grounded in the day-to-day realities of farming.