Perspectives

Jean-Paul Courtens

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Jean Paul Courtens

Jean-Paul Courtens

At-large Member

Jean-Paul is a native of the Netherlands and a graduate of Warmonderhof, a part of Groenhorst Agriculture College, where he specialized in biodynamic farming. He moved to the US in 1986 and founded Roxbury Farm in 1990. In 2018, he founded Roxbury Agriculture Institute at Philia Farm to promote education and research in regenerative agriculture. Jean-Paul has dedicated much of his career to educating the next generation of farmers. He was part of the original CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance of Farmer Training) in 1995, and shared many resources on the Roxbury Agriculture Institute website (known as the Farm Manuals) while teaching numerous workshops at farming conferences. Between 2014 and 2017, Jean-Paul created the ProFarmer program at the Hudson Valley Farm Hub in Hurley, NY. This on-the-job training program provides a path to farm ownership. During this time, he guided the transition of their 1,250-acre sweet corn operation to organic and biodynamic practices. Jean-Paul was recognized as Farmer of the Year by NOFA NY in January 2018.