Shetler Family Farm

Andy Shetler and his family are part of the growing Amish farming community in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Andy has been a commercial vegetable farmer for most of his adult life, with some additional commercial production of grains and livestock as well. Born in Ontario, he was raised in the Midwest and most recently lived with his family in Kingsville, in northeastern Ohio. They moved to Brownington, Vermont in 2016 and after building a new home, barn and basically setting up a new farm from scratch, Andy came to the Vermont Farm Fund for a $15,000 loan to build a storage cellar (including wash station, gas-powered AZS vegetable washer, and loading dock), as well as an equipment shed.

The farm is a sole proprietorship that Andy manages with the help of his children, nine of whom are still living at home. Andy manages all the enterprises but delegates specific tasks to his family members. Farm sales are based on a 20-member vegetable CSA, poultry CSA shares, as well as wholesale vegetable sales to Newport area stores, restaurants, schools, the Northeastern Correction Facility in St. Johnsbury and the Vermont Food Venture Center in Hardwick.