SVTFarm in Wells, VT applied for a 3%-interest Business Builder loan to use as short-term bridge financing for her grant-funded winter livestock housing and summer compost coverall barn. Owner Laura Burch identified the project as key to her farm's long-term viability by facilitating more efficient use of feed resources, conservation of nutrient resources, and improvements to animal comfort, soil health, and water quality.
Read MoreBlackbird Organics is a certified organic farm that grows a wide diversity of vegetable crops. Owners Kagen Dewey and Elise Magnant sell their produce through local farmers’ markets, grocery co-ops, and a small CSA. Blackbird Organics began in 2018 and scaled their production on leased land until just last year, when they worked together with the Vermont Land Trust to purchase their own property in Plainfield, VT. The business is now poised to make significant investments in infrastructure, efficient systems, and long-term strategies for growth. Blackbird Organics received a $30,000 Business Builder loan to help finance some of those key equipment and infrastructure investments to expand production on the new farm.
Read MoreSweet Rowen Farmstead is a small, grass-based dairy farm in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, with a mission to maintain a working landscape that provides families with fresh food, supports the local economy, and upholds the ecological integrity of the environment. The milk from their herd of pasture-raised, heritage breed, Lineback cows is processed at their own on-farm creamery into bottled milk, yogurt, and cheese. Owner Paul Lisai is breaking ground on a new barn this summer and received a $30,000 Business Builder loan to support the construction, along with grant funds secured from the Agency of Agriculture and Vermont Housing and Conservation Board. The new barn will hold all the farm’s young stock and allow Sweet Rowen to house all their animals on the farm through winter.
Read MoreNorthwind Farm is an organic dairy in Cabot, VT. Owner Geordie Lynd has been in business since 2010 and currently milks a herd of 65 cows. Northwind Farm received a $30,000 Business Builder loan to support several infrastructure improvement projects this year, including an updated manure management system and renovated pastures with planned laneways. Geordie was also awarded grant funding through the VAAFM Pasture and Surface Water Fencing Program to help fund the pasture improvements. Combining grant dollars with a low-interest VFF loan can be a cost-effective way for small farms to finance larger capital projects.
Read MoreThe Sole Connection Farm in Arlington, VT utilized one of our 0%-interest Emergency Loans to rebuild his mushroom cultivation area, which was significantly damaged during the flooding in July 2023. The loan will help owner Patrick McLaughlin reconstruct his clean-room space while improving on the previous design with the addition of a second indoor growing chamber. The completed project will reduce overhead costs while expanding overall production capacity.
Read More1000 Stone Farm is a family owned and operated 4-season certified organic homestead farm in Brookfield, VT. In addition to providing sustainably-grown vegetables, mushrooms, eggs, and fruit, owner Kyle Doda is expanding a new cider-making enterprise. 1000 Stone received their first Farm Fund loan in 2019 to support the construction of two high tunnels and a farmstand. Their latest Business Builder loan will fund equipment to improve the efficiency of their cider production and processing. We can’t wait to try the new product!
Read MoreHillside Homestead is a small conventional dairy farm in Albany, VT. The farm is primarily a registered Holstein herd that sells milk conventionally but owners Renee & Chet Baker also operate a small farmstand that offers their own raw milk, local cheese products, maple syrup and some seasonal veggies. A returning VFF borrower, Hillside Homestead received a new Business Builder loan to help finance infrastructure improvements like a barn painting project and construction of a sawdust shed.
Read MoreSweetland Farm is a highly diversified farm, producing mixed fruits and vegetables, poultry, pigs and feed hay. Owner Norah Lake started Sweetland in 2012 when she purchased her property from the Vermont Land Trust and has been actively growing her business ever since. She has a year round farm store and primarily sells direct to local customers. Norah is undertaking an ambitious project to install a state-of-the-art wood chip gasification boiler to heat 5 greenhouses in the winter and extend the growing season. Together with grant funding, Norah used a VFF Business Builder loan to help finance the up-front payments required for the construction.
Read MoreMcDonald Farmstand is a diversified vegetable farm in Danville, VT. Started by owner Jacob Mills in 2017, the farm serves a retail farmstand and sells wholesale to local businesses in the Northeast Kingdom. After significant impacts to fields and crops following a series of dramatic wet weather events in the summer and fall, Jacob received a VFF Emergency Loan to help finance supplies and seeds for the next growing season.
Read MorePitchfork Farm is an organic vegetable farm located in Burlington's Intervale. They suffered 100% crop loss in July when the Winooski River overflowed its banks and flooded their fields and greenhouses. They used a VFF Emergency Loan to help cover the costs of replanting.
Read MoreAllstad Farm is an 87-acre farm in Hardwick raising Angus beef and high quality mixed grass hay. An Emergency Loan from the VFF helped to cover farm expenses and repairs to their property in the weeks following the July flood.
Read MoreJericho Settlers Farm received an Emergency Loan in July to help cover flood-related expenses on their 200-acre organic vegetable farm. The funds helped to keep them on track for their fall and winter root crops, which supply the VT Foodbank's Vermonters Feeding Vermonters program and are essential to the viability of their farm.
Read MoreAfter flooding caused significant crop loss on their 34-acre farm in South Royalton, Hurricane Flats used a VFF Emergency Loan to help cover the costs of re-planting their fall crops.
Read MoreAn Emergency Loan from VFF just days after July's catastrophic flooding helped Elmore Roots Nursery cover urgent recovery costs like road repairs to regain access to their fields and orchards.
Read MoreAt Thornhill Farm in Greensboro, owner Todd Hardie has been growing organic grain on his farm for seven years, serving local bakeries, retailers, and distilleries. Thornhill Farm received a $30,000 Business Builder loan from VFF for the purchase of a 48" New American stone mill. A stone mill keeps the milled grain and its oils and ingredients cool, resulting in a higher quality grain - and better-tasting bread and whiskey.
Read MoreZ Botanicals Apothecary & Herbal Sanctuary is an herb farm and apothecary that sells fresh herbs and value-added herbal medicinals. They also make a wide variety of herbal health and beauty products. Z Botanicals received a Business Builder loan to help owner Lyndsay Rose transition the farm to a new property with an on-site storefront in Hartland, VT.
Read MoreReturning VFF borrower Honey Field Farm received a $22,000 Business Builder loan to invest in new equipment for field tillage and cover cropping, giving them greater flexibility to respond to weather and real-time conditions on the ground. Farm owners Eli Hersh and Valerie Woodhouse first came to the Farm Fund in 2020 after purchasing their new 25-acre organic vegetable farm from Liz and Jake Guest, now the owners of Killdeer Farm.
Read MoreLiz and Jake Guest have been farming in the Upper Valley for nearly 40 years. After selling their large vegetable operation and farmstand several years ago, Liz and Jake now manage Killdeer Farm, a smaller organic mixed-vegetable farm on the Connecticut River where they focus on just a few main crops.
Killdeer Farm requested an $8,500 Business Builder loan for the installation of a new walk-in cooler and expansion of the bed of their pickup truck. Jake estimated that these improvements would yield efficiencies in their picking, packing, and delivery systems that would save the farm several thousand dollars each season. As they look toward their eventual retirement, an important goal for Liz and Jake is to maintain their land as a working organic farm now and into the future.
Read MorePaddy Hill Farm is a small diversified immuno-berry farm run by Leslie Polubinski in Moretown. Newly established in 2023, the farm’s primary focus is production of immune-boosting berries: elderberries, black currants, and aronia. This spring Paddy Hill Farm received an $8,000 New Producer Loan that Leslie will use to propel her business from hobby scale to commercial scale through investments in marketing and production. This year she plans to install 50 additional black currant and 30 additional aronia plantings.
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