Hillside Farm is owned and operated by Bill Pearce and his daughter Hannah producing pastured poultry and apple cider. In 2009, Bill started the business raising pastured chicken processed on-farm with rented equipment. With a loan from the VT Farm Fund in 2011, Bill also built up a 1,000 layer egg business which he sold in the fall of 2015.

In 2013, Bill bought a bladder press and grinder for apple cider production. Also in 2013, Bill built a dedicated chicken processing facility, which has been used for cider production seasonally since. Poultry is sold directly to consumers, about 50/50 to very loyal and growing individual and commercial customers, primarily through pre-order sales, as well as expanding farmers’ market presence. Cider sales are primarily done through local stores and at farmers’ markets. As this side of the business grows, the intention is to target local and regional markets with an expanding line of single-serve specialty ciders.

With the growth in both poultry production (turkey in late fall) and cider production (late summer/fall), Bill and Hannah realized they needed to have separate spaces to be able to continue production simultaneously.

The project includes moving an existing building onto a new slab for extended apple storage and building a new processing and bottling area. They also added a small addition to the poultry processing building and added a state-mandated shackle system and a grain bin.

With the separation, they are able to expand both the poultry and cider seasons and be able to support processing employees for a longer season, including full-time employment for one additional employee through September. The overall goal is growing the business sustainably through increasing efficiency in existing systems and creating more opportunities for production.