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Who We Are

Oechsner Farms is really about the people who work, live and sweat here. They give us joy most days and it's our privilege to get to spend our long days farming with them.

Thor Oechsner

Founder and owner of Oechsner Farms, Thor grew up in the suburbs of New York City in Croton-On-Hudson. Through summer trips to his uncle’s dairy farm in Pennsylvania, he became completely fascinated with agriculture. Eventually, he plowed his parents’ lawn and planted corn. Since he wasn’t born into farming, Thor built his farm bit by bit, scouting for abandoned fields to rent and restore to cropping. In 1991, Thor purchased his 15-acre home farm. In 1998, he started Oechsner Farms on 44 acres of rented ground. As Thor gained experience and equipment, he steadily added acreage until he could support himself exclusively by farming. In the meantime, he ran a Volkswagen shop and taught diesel mechanics at BOCES. By 2005, he had 400 acres in production, primarily for the organic dairy feed industry. Today, Oechsner Farms manages 1,200 acres, primarily for organic food-grade and craft beverage markets. The grandson of a German-born pastry chef, he is also one of Farmer Ground Flour’s three business partners.

Dan Gladstone

Dan Gladstone, Production Manager at Oechsner Farms, is another New York native who grew up near Canandaigua. After raising a few replacement heifers as 4-H projects, Dan worked on several conventional dairies through high school and college. Other than a brief moonlight as a welder, he has been wrenching on and operating farm equipment for the last 13 years. He started at Thor's farm in 2010, working part time while wrapping up his senior year of Ag Science at Cornell. Dan has become a vital part of the team, and key to keeping the farm growing and grain flowing. In 2012, he started his own certified organic operation and farms 50 rented acres in Enfield. In his spare time, he defends his title as world's worst fly fisherman. And may we add swimming with whale sharks and scuba diving in exotic places.

Rye Lyczak

Ernest Rye Lyczak hails from the granite state. He misspent his childhood working in the neighborhood auto shop on the dusty back streets of Keene, New Hampshire. After tormenting his teachers in a variety of public and private schools, Rye was finally expelled from high school and sent on a Kroka Expeditions semester study program to Ecuador, where he was inspired by the sustainable farming practices of Palugo Farm in Quito. Apprenticeships with Village Roots Farm, Indian Line Farm, and Brookfield Farm further nurtured his love of working outdoors on the land. Along the way, Rye also studied Spanish in Argentina, cycled from New Hampshire to New Orleans, and bummed around California and Texas. When not tinkering with automobiles or driving tractors, he is happiest strumming his guitar, burning up a contra dance floor, or jumping into cold water.

In 2022, Rye felt the call of the wide-open fields and sky of upstate New York and a sudden squall blew him west from New England out to Oechsner Farms. He is thrilled to be the newest inhabitant of the old chicken coop and is having a ball driving all kinds of new equipment while learning each day from Thor, Rachel, and Dan.

Rachel Lodder

Last but not least, Rachel does like to stay in the background. She grew up in Trumansburg, NY, traveled a lot, and lived overseas for 15 years, and returned to the area, where she has lived for almost the past 20 years (how did that happen?). She believes in the environmental benefits of organic farming, believes in producing and eating good food and the positive impacts this has on individuals and the community. She is a passionate endurance rider, and competes in 50-100 mile events with her horses. Like Thor, she laughs a lot, and pretty loudly, too!