Homes sought for 52 sanctuary animals
As Nettle Meadow winds down, co-owner Sheila Flanagan is seeking homes for the 52 animals at the Kemp Animal Sanctuary in Thurman, according to the Times Union. The animals include older and disabled goats and sheep retired from the production herd, as well as other farm animals. The sanctuary property has been for sale for more than a year without a buyer.
Flanagan is asking people who can take in mini horses, older goats or pot-bellied pigs to contact her. If the animals are not placed within about a month, she plans to move them to a smaller farm. She is also seeking a somewhat warmer location for the older animals, possibly in the southern Finger Lakes, the Times Union reported.
Employees and remaining products
The closure also affects longtime employees. Flanagan told the Times Union that some staff members had worked at Nettle Meadow for 10, 12 or 15 years. The company’s retail store is expected to stay open for a few more weeks, with about 100 cases of Kunik remaining, the newspaper reported.
The Hitching Post facility, which housed production, the tavern and the store, is for sale. Flanagan has not ruled out restarting the business on a smaller scale or with another company, and hopes Kunik can continue to reach grocery stores, according to the Times Union.
A business changes course
Nettle Meadow began as a goat dairy in 1990. Flanagan and co-owner Lorraine Lambiase have operated it in Thurman since 2005, and the company has received more than 50 cheese awards, the Times Union reported, citing the business’s website. Kunik was named among the world’s top 20 cheeses at the 2022 World Cheese Champion Contest, according to that report.
The business moved production to Lake Luzerne’s historic Hitching Post building in 2019, and the renovated facility opened in 2022. Flanagan attributed the financial strain to the larger building’s overhead and the cost of its pandemic-era build-out, as well as rising production, transportation and labor expenses, the Times Union reported. The tavern closed shortly after Labor Day, and cheese production later stopped. Flanagan also linked reduced restaurant traffic to a nearby snowmobile trail that had become shorter and nearly disappeared, reducing winter business, according to the newspaper.
Nettle Meadow’s products had a reach beyond the Adirondacks: the Post-Star previously reported that the company distributed nationwide.
Industry pressures beyond Nettle Meadow
The closure comes amid difficulties for some cheese retailers and sellers. The New York Times reported that tariffs and conflict in the Middle East had raised prices for imported and domestic cheeses, while grocery chains’ lower-priced, prepackaged offerings challenged independent counters. The report also described hiring difficulties at smaller shops. Those broader conditions provide context; the Times Union attributed Nettle Meadow’s financial pressures to its facility costs and rising operating expenses.
