One tiny farm, standing alone against the power of eminent domain, has caught the attention of the nation. Bureaucrats aim to seize the ground for government housing.
For decades, brothers Andy Henry and Chris Henry, owners of a 175-year-old, 21-acre livestock operation in Middlesex County, N.J., declined $25 million development offers, preserving the farm for the sake of family legacy and county history. Their reward? In a surreal turn bordering on parody, in April 2025, the local council of Cranbury Township designated the entire Henry farm as the ideal location for an affordable housing apartment complex of 130 units. Sell or get covered by a concrete blanket.
Andy Henry, with 20 years of military service in the Air Force, refused to roll. His courage has caught the support of Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, spurring USDA to look at the loss of family farms via eminent domain.
Henry is prepared for a benchmark court battle, emphasizes attorney Timothy Duggan. “Farms are getting picked off one by one, but now USDA leaders are intent on protecting these families. The public is shocked when they hear the crazy circumstances of this case, but Andy Henry is ready. He’s going the distance for himself and farmers everywhere.”
Saturday Night Live
Surrounded by warehouses, industrial buildings, and turnpike exits, the Henry farm is an agriculture island on South River Road. Despite steady buyout attempts, the Henry siblings have maintained one of the oldest ag outfits on the East Coast—in operation since 1850, composed of 21 acres of pasture, barns, and a historic home.
However, when a statewide court order directed construction of 146,000 affordable housing units by 2035, Henry’s livestock farm was tagged by the Cranbury Township Committee for forced replacement with apartment buildings: We’re from the government and we’re here to help.
Henry didn’t follow the Committee’s script. He hired bulldog attorney Timothy Duggan and held tight to his farm. “The public is disturbed by the government’s actions in this case,” Duggan emphasizes. “The details are so over the top to average people that they think they’re watching a Saturday Night Live skit.”
In July, Henry filed a lawsuit challenging the township’s ordinance allowing seizure by eminent domain. He followed in August with a separate challenge to the affordable housing plan. “Our primary challenge was the plan is unconstitutional because it builds low-income housing in an area surrounded by warehouses,” Duggan explains, “and that’s not an appropriate location for housing.”
(See City Gov to Seize 175-Year-Old Farm by Eminent Domain for more details on Henry’s private property battle.)
Henry’s stand has drawn the public eye: “The support from everyday Americans has been overwhelming as evidenced by the social media posts and contributions to our GoFundMe,” Henry says. “We’ve even had international support.”
Support extends to the top office of USDA. On June 17, USDA Secretary Rollins noted Henry’s potential loss. On her X account, @BrookeLRollins, she posted: We hear you, and I am looking into this situation immediately. We must protect our family farms at all costs. Standby.
Easy Targets
Rollins’ support of Henry has deepened. On Sept. 24, alongside Aubrey Bettencourt, chief of NRCS, Rollins met with Henry and Duggan in Washington, D.C.
“The purpose of the meeting was to discuss what we can do nationwide to try to help preserve additional farms and stop the use of eminent domain to go after farms,” Duggan notes. “Quite often, these old family farms are easy targets.”
“We’ve been very happy with the support from Secretary Rollins and Chief Bettencourt on how to develop a nationwide program and defense of the farmland we lose each day throughout the country. Secretary Rollins, from the very beginning, has been all-in, wanting to help all the way up the federal level. Our case, over a small amount of land in New Jersey, is about protecting farmland nationwide.”
The Trigger
Henry is prepared for a long-haul court battle.
“Think about the circumstances,” Duggan concludes. “You have farm owners of a wonderful 175-year-old operation turning down big money over and over, because they genuinely believe in preserving a legacy for their entire state. Their actions are then abused by eminent domain. At gut level, people know this is terribly wrong.”
Initially, Henry intended to save his 21 acres. Now, he hopes his legal fight triggers protection for agriculture operations across the nation.
“This started out with a threat to take a property we simply did not want to sell, and people rallied because they could see it was wrong,” Henry says. “I sincerely hope the publicity this has generated will help many other farmers.”
For more from Chris Bennett (@ChrisBennettMS or cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:
Family Farm Wins Historic Case After Feds Violate Constitution and Ruin Business
County Shuts Down 15-Yr-Old’s Bait Stand on Family Farm, Threatens Daily Fines
Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told
How the Deep State Tried, and Failed, to Crush an American Farmer
Game of Horns: Iowa Poacher’s Antler Addiction Leads to Historic Bust
Ghost Cattle: $650M Ponzi Rocks Livestock Industry, Money Still Missing
