Union Grove Farm sits right across from Maple View Ice Cream Shop on Dairyland Road in Hillsborough. It has a new name, but the land has always been for farming, known colloquially to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Community as Maple View Farm.
Now, its new owners want to expand the farm’s reach to agritourism efforts.
The farm's history
Sixty years ago, Orange County looked different: About 60% of county land was used for farming. Now, that number is hovering around 13%.
Maple View Farm, owned by the Nutter family, was one of the foremost farms in the county, with a popular ice cream shop of the same name down the street.
Fifth-generation dairy farmer Robert Nutter bought the parcel of land in 1963. He moved from Maine, leaving cold weather, and bringing his family dairy farm down with him.
In 2021, the farm shuttered its doors, and Bohlen bought the parcel of land from Robert’s son, Sam Nutter. Maple View’s cows were moved to other dairy farms in North Carolina. The ice cream currently served at Maple View Ice Cream store is delivered from Simply Natural Creamery in Ayden in Pitt County.
Dairy farms in North Carolina have shuttered their doors for the past century. In 1945, there were about 400,000 dairy cows in the state. As of 2019, there were only 44,000, according to the state Department of Agriculture.
Bohlen is the CEO of Union Grove Farm and the co-founder of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture, which is also housed on the farm. He came to the agriculture industry from a career in banking and venture capitalism and has multiple other limited liability companies under his name.
"I grew up on a corn and soybean farm in Illinois ... (and) what always tells the story is the soil," Bohlen said.
Bohlen’s business is centered around regenerative agriculture, which puts a focus on the health of the soil.
Regenerative Agriculture
Instead of cows, Union Grove has sheep and bioengineered grapes that are a special cross between regular table and muscadine grapes, and vermiculture compost, or worms that break down organic matter.
On the farm’s property, there’s a big building full of worms fertilizing the soil.
“I'm going to introduce you to our 100,000 employees. They are busy working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If they had a backbone, they'd probably organize,” Bohlen said. “But they're worms. They just show up and work every day.”
Some of the regenerative practices include planting crops that are meant to grow the soil and not harvest it, and soil tilling with compost from the vermiculture process.
Mart Baumgartner, the North Carolina Cooperative Extension agent for Orange County, said that this type of farming isn't new — and it hasn't always been called "regenerative." It’s a practice of more sustainable farming that farmers across the county and state have used.
"Regenerative agriculture uses an animal component as fertilization. They reduce usage of pesticides and chemicals and go to more of a natural, organic type of process to build the soil," Baumgartner said.
Union Grove’s ‘Agritourism’
Right now, the farm has a coffee shop, called Blue Heeler, hosts weddings, gives tours of the farm called "farm experiences," and other tourism features.
Bohlen himself has a big vision for agritourism in Orange County. Union Grove’s plan for expansion includes a 2,500 seat amphitheater, short-term rentals like Airbnbs, a culinary garden, and a distillery on the farm.
"Without profits, there can be no sustainability," Bohlen said. “I mean, that has to be the focus. My dad used to say when I grew up that everything needs to wash its own face."
In June, the Orange County Planning Board rejected his plans for a hotel and restaurant, saying it will bring "new dangers" with the amount of potential hotel guests. Despite this, the board greenlit the distillery and garden.
According to the board’s decision, those two projects constituted agritourism, which is when farms bring in extra money from people visiting for "non-farming purposes." As traditional farms have decreased in number across the state, some are turning to agritourism experiences to produce more money.
The community’s response
Some residents who live next to the farm, which is off of Dairyland Road, have been advocating against some of the expansions.
Susan Walser, who has lived in the area by the Union Grove Farm since 1996, co-leads a group called Defend Maple View. The group organized a community meeting with over more than 200 attendees in May, opposing Union Grove’s expansion. She said the previous owner Sam Nutter’s daughter attended the meeting.
"All of us out here think the farming is great, the regenerative soil is great, the grapes are great, and we support agritourism. We just don't accept the scale of this," Walser said.
Walser and her neighbors are worried about traffic, noise pollution, and increased dangers for cyclists that the development might bring. Walser said she's also concerned about what she calls a "loophole” with Orange County’s rural buffer.
The farm is in the rural buffer, an area between Hillsborough and Chapel Hill that cannot typically be developed on. But, Bohlen doesn't have to abide by typical zoning regulations since the property is considered a farm under North Carolina’s Farm Exemption Act — they can build in areas that they wouldn’t typically be allowed to.
"If he didn't have the farm exemption, none of that would have been allowed in the rural buffer,” Walser said.
Lynne Jaffe has lived on the road bordering the farm for the past 31 years. Because of recent tree clearing around the farm, Jaffe can now see the ice cream shop's lights from her bedroom.
"This is where for decades, people have come out to watch the sunset, to see the moon rise, to see all the birds that are now gone, the birds gone," Jaffe said.
There's still little set in stone about when the farm will begin expanding, but some neighbors, like Jaffe, are still wary about the vineyard and garden.
She said that she is concerned that the farm's expansion might drain up the community's aquifer, or that Union Grove may eventually end up abandoning their efforts.
“What happens if he just does all this and then he goes bankrupt, or it collapses, and we're left with this nightmare of infrastructure unsupported?” Jaffe said.
Both Walser and Jaffe remembered when they fought back against plans for an airport and waste center in the area. Orange County wanted to add a waste center in the rural buffer in early 2024 and an airport a few years prior, but community reaction and other factors cancelled those projects.
Looking forward
Despite the planning board’s decision, Union Grove still has the ability to appeal the planning board's decision or apply for a zoning amendment. In July, Bohlen ended up choosing the former.
In a letter appealing the decision to Cy Stober, the director of planning for Orange County, Bohlen's lawyer said that the farm stage and hotel were necessary to the agritourism purposes of the farm. The letter cited multiple other farms in North Carolina that have different agritourism purposes, such as amphitheaters or hotels.
Now that Bohlen has filed an appeal, some, like Jaffe and Walser, have said they are concerned that Union Grove will continue their legal efforts, even if this current appeal does not succeed.
The Orange County Board of Adjustments is expected to meet on Oct. 8 to consider Union Grove’s appeal.
