Walter C. Hopkins is a fourth-generation steward of Green Acres Farm, located just west of Lewes. Honored as the 1990 Master Farmer of Delaware and Pennsylvania and with the Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service to Delaware Agriculture in January 2013, he was praised by the state’s Secretary of Agriculture for his exceptional leadership, economic contributions, and innovation.
Born into a long line of Hopkins farmers, Walt represents the continuity of a family legacy dating to 1867, when his forebear William Hopkins purchased the farmland. He graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in agricultural engineering and served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam before returning to lead the family farm.
Walt Hopkins
Board Member
Secretary
- Walt Hopkins
"I want to inspire and invite other transition generation farmers like us to join us in our calling to create the American Center for Farming Heritage.”
Under his leadership, Green Acres maintained a herd of approximately 600 milking cows, producing over 12 million pounds of milk annually at its peak. Walt played a pivotal role in expanding the farm’s offerings, collaborating with his late son, Walter “Burli” Hopkins Jr., to launch the on-farm Hopkins Farm Creamery in 2008, a beloved community ice-cream destination which his grandson, Michael Hopkins owns and operates today.
A dedicated community leader, Walt has served on the board of MidAtlantic Farm Credit. He is active in numerous agricultural and civic organizations—including the Delaware Farm Bureau, Land O’Lakes Cooperative, Holstein Association—and holds roles in Jefferson Lodge No. 15 A.F. & A.M. as well as Coolspring Presbyterian Church. He previously chaired the Cape Henlopen School District Board of Education.
For many years, Walt partnered with the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, Sussex County 4-H, and Master Gardener volunteers to host school tours at Green Acres Farm, educating young students about farming and agriculture—reflecting his family’s longstanding commitment to agricultural outreach and public education. Walt is looking forward to restarting those school tours in conjunction with the launch of the American Center for Farming Heritage.
Beyond farming, Walt has guided his family’s transition toward conservation. Following the retirement of the dairy herd in 202, he supported the sale of a 52-acre parcel known as Hopkins Preserve to Sussex County Land Trust to ensure open-space preservation and public access to nature trails and wildlife habitat.