Back in November, we published a story by freelance writer Ted Vaden about the Chapel Hill venture capitalist Greg Bohlen and his plans for growing muscadine grapes at Union Grove (formerly Maple View) Farm in Orange County. Readers were intrigued to discover what’s happening on the farm, where regenerative farming practices are contributing to growing a new strain of grape that’s being marketed as a superfood. But there were some gripes about the report as well, including this long letter from reader Mark Oglesby sent to us via email:

As a concerned native of Orange County and as someone who is very familiar with the neighborhoods adjoining Union Grove Farm (UGF), I’d like to bring to your attention some aspects of UGF that were seriously overlooked in the piece. Despite the farm’s willingness to appear as a regenerative, eco-friendly operation, Greg Bohlen has been responsible for massive amounts of environmental destruction and other problems on Dairyland Road, Tree Farm Road, and Union Grove Church Road. I feel it is irresponsible that the farm has been cast in such a positive light, considering that they have shown a marked disregard not only for the environment and local ecosystems, but also for the quality of life of the residents of the neighborhoods surrounding the farm. I’ve outlined just a few of these key points, and am able to substantiate these, mostly via emails between UGF and concerned residents in the area.

UGF is responsible for hundreds of acres of deforestation. While some land has been converted into vineyards, some sites, such as the farm’s property on Tree Farm Road have been slashed and abandoned—an ecological nightmare. Instead of even putting the wood to use UGF burned massive piles of the trees, emitting tons of CO2 (theoretically much more than grapes will ever be able to sequester). Some of the areas that were cleared around the farm contained massive old trees, such as tree buffers between UGF and the Green Rise Road and Meadowview Road neighborhoods, and were cut for no other purpose than a misguided sense of aesthetics. UGF seems to think that the people of Orange County would rather look at rows and rows of the red plastic cones around their grape vines (supposedly to help them grow faster) than a stand of beautiful old trees.

Greg Bohlen has publicly stated that he wanted to save the land he bought on Dairyland Road as a greenspace preserve and to protect it from development. However, much of the Maple View Farm land, including the area directly across from the Maple View ice cream store, was already put in a conservation easement by [Maple View Farm founder] Bob Nutter, meaning the land was already protected and could only be used for farming or remain as open space. Furthermore, UGF plans to develop the land themselves by building a concert venue, restaurant, distillery, and hotel (see below), which clearly violate the easement as well as Orange County zoning laws.

UGF has drawn criticism from members of the local chapter of the Audubon Society. In the spring of 2023, the members repeatedly tried to convince UGF to not mow the large fields on Dairyland Road for just two weeks, because hundreds of red-wing blackbirds and dickcissels (an uncommon bird in this area) were nesting there. They pleaded with UGF to wait until the birds had fledged and flown from their nests, which they estimated would be in about two weeks. The farm refused and mowed over the fields, undoubtedly killing hundreds of fledglings. …

The HOA of the neighborhood on Green Rise Road wrote a request to UGF asking them to not kill beavers that were inhabiting a pond that’s on the edge of the neighborhood (UGF controls one side, the neighborhood controls the other). UGF ignored this and killed the beavers. [The] reason for doing this is unclear as he clearly is not concerned about losing trees.

When Bob Nutter requested to build the agriculture center on Dairyland Road, he was granted a special use permit that stipulated he could not cut down a barrier of trees adjoining the land the center was built on. Despite this, UGF violated the permit and had the trees cut down. Several of these rolled into the pond behind the neighborhood on Green Rise Road, where they were left until neighbors repeatedly pleaded with the farm to remove them. A spokesman from UGF said he thought that Orange County had granted a waiver for this permit but was unable to produce said waiver and also seemed to not be aware of what the permit required in the first place.

UGF’s actions have caused many problems for the neighborhoods surrounding the farm. Their cutting of tree buffers has led to a dramatic increase in traffic noise. They refuse to turn off their silo light at night, the only purpose of which is to illuminate a mural. Their large burns of tree trunks and brush filled the air with smoke. Often dump trucks can be heard coming and going from the farm one after another all day. Additionally, UGF is in the process of building a distillery, music venue, restaurant, and hotel despite many complaints from neighbors about the noise, light pollution, and high levels of traffic this will bring. The farm is not zoned for any of these uses but UGF seems confident they will find a loophole and continue with construction. 

Finally, it seems to me like there is nothing demonstrably regenerative or unusual about UGF’s practices. Simply using worm compost to fertilize grapes, planting cover crops, and having sheep on the farm does not set them apart. There are many farms in Orange County that also use organic compost fertilizer made in-house, plant cover crops, and take advantage of animals to control weeds and keep areas clear. Furthermore, many of these farms do so without the wonton destruction and disregard for others that has been a hallmark of UGF. Nor are the majority of these farmers suffering from low profits, as is implied in the article—Orange County is lucky to be home to many successful and conscientious farmers (feel free to contact me for examples).

With so many farms in the area actually doing positive, regenerative work, it’s unfortunate that IndyWeek chose to highlight a farm that has demonstrated a total unwillingness to reduce their harm to the environment or accommodate the wishes of the people living around them. I’m not sure what can be done at this point, but I hope that a more fair depiction of whats happening at this farm can somehow be put out there. I personally do not plan on buying any grapes from UGF.

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