Good Heart Farmstead is a VFF returning borrower and recent recipient of a Business Builder Loan to help with the purchase and setup of the new Good Heart Farm Store in Worcester, VT. The new store will be a place where customer can get local goods year-round, including vegetables, eggs, meat, dairy, maple syrup…and even lattes. It’ll be a local foods grocery open 5 days a week, open to the entire community, and a location for their CSA pick-up.
Read MoreDreamwalker Farm in Grand Isle, VT is a woman-owned business raising 3,000 laying hens, hogs, rabbits, turkeys & meat chickens. In 2020 they opened a farm store which sells their farm-raised meats and eggs, as well as other locally produced foods and crafts. A Business Builder Loan from the VFF allowed Dreamwalker Farm to purchase a walk-in cooler and an egg grader.
Read MoreChicken Wiggle Farm is a diversified farm in Chelsea, VT offering seasonal veggies and farm-raised eggs, pork, chicken, turkey, beef as well as a variety of jams, jellies, pickles and apple cider. They came to the VFF for a Business Builder loan to expand their farm store by renovating an existing building on their property, allowing them to offer a wider variety of locally grown and made goods.
Read MoreFood Connects operates a regional food distribution hub in Brattleboro, VT. They make it easy for wholesale customers throughout New England to purchase source-identified food from a variety of regional producers, offering competitive pricing, personalized service, and products they can feel good about. A Business Builder loan from the VFF will allow Food Connects to build its inventory, increasing its purchasing from small and medium producers throughout the region.
Read MoreWinding Brook Farm in Strafford came to the VFF for a Business Builder Loan to expand and modernize their sugaring operation. With the loan they will be able to expand from 1000 to 2150 taps and purchase a reverse osmosis machine. They operate a diversified family farm. Their enterprises include eggs, vegetables, meats (lamb, pork, chicken), maple syrup, and they operate a farm stay guest house.
Read MoreKnee Deep Farm in Jeffersonville, VT is a diversified farm growing Certified Organic vegetables, herbs, garlic & flowers. Shane and Eliza used their VFF Business Builder Loan to purchase a tillage tractor. This will allow them to easily move pallets and bins of winter storage crops in their dry storage room. With additional storage for their fall crops they will be able to extend the season for wholesale vegetables and expand their fall CSA program.
Read MoreSunshine Valley Berry Farm in Rochester, VT came to the Vermont Farm Fund when they needed to purchase a tractor that could run specialized attachments and a mulch spreader. Rob Meadows and Patricia Rydle raise 7 acres of blueberries and raspberries focused on Pick-Your-Own berries.
Read MoreKiss the Cow Farm is a Barnard, Vermont organic, grass-based dairy selling milk and ultra-premium ice cream from a small herd of Jersey cows. Randy and Lisa Robar came back to the VFF for a second loan to purchase a larger pasteurizer and bottler-capper so they can efficiently meet current demand for their pasteurized milk.
Read MoreThree Cow Creamery is a micro-dairy at the heart of a traditional small, diversified farm in Corinth, Vermont. Owner Liz Guenther hand milks between 3 and 7 cows, and makes raw milk English and French cheeses with the milk. In addition she raises her own beef, chickens, pigs and keeps a team of small draft horses. A VFF loan will help her complete a new “cheese house” which will house a cheese room, aging cellar, licensed kitchen, milk room, and classroom/tea room, where Liz plans to offer cheesemaking and cooking classes.
Read MoreThe Wild Kid Farm is a growing goat dairy in Hyde Park, VT. Jean and Charles Pratt started raising goats in 2015 and have been slowly building their closed herd to the point where they are ready to start shipping milk. In this case, the Vermont Farm Fund was able to provide a combination loan with a $10,000 Emergency Loan to help cover losses specifically related to COVID-19 as well as a $20,000 Business Builder Loan to help them finish the construction of their milk house.
Read MoreBear Roots Farm is a certified organic diversified vegetable farm in Williamstown, VT that distributes its products through a local 250 member CSA and a farm store, The Roots Farm Market, in Middlesex, VT. They started their farm in 2014. They used their VFF Business Builder Loan to purchase a high crop tractor to improve their ability to cultivate and improve their systems and efficiencies.
Read MoreJessie and Gregory Witscher from Understory Farm came to the VFF in 2018 for their first loan. In 2020 they paid it off early and in early 2021 they moved to a new property in Bridport (the former Gleason Farm) with help from the Vermont Land Trust's Farmland Access Program. They've been busy over the past few months, moving everything from their leased farm in Sudbury to Bridport, including six greenhouses, a wash station and pack shed. With their second VFF loan they will be able to purchase a cultivating tractor and basket weeder. By upgrading their field cultivation efficiency they will be able to produce more high quality cut flowers for a competitive price, making their farm business more sustainable moving into the future.
Read MoreXR Maple Farm in Arlington used their Business Builder Loan to purchase a monitoring system for their sugaring operation which will let them keep close tabs on the vacuum lines and know how much sap is in each holding tank.
Read MoreSheep Meadow Farm in Danville, VT received a VFF Business Builder Loan to purchase and install a 6-ton bulk grain bin, which will cut the cost of feed in half. They use whole corn to finish lambs before slaughter. This year they were able to raise 170 lambs for local markets.
Read MoreBased on a farm in Albany, Vermont, Wunderkammer Biermanufaktur is a small production, artisanal brewer of mixed-culture beer that features local malt and hops as well as produce and foraged ingredients. They are building a new brewhouse in an old cheese cave and will use the loan for purchasing equipment and start-up supplies and raw materials.
Read MoreBirdhous is a “co-working landscape” inviting young and beginning farmers to its residential “Roosting” program, which offers subsidized rent, tool and infrastructure sharing, and the built-in support offered by living communally in a like-minded cohort. Their VFF Business Builder loan was used to outfit a bus into a certified food production space for pierogi-making that can also work as a catering/food truck for pop-up VT Pierogi events.
Read MoreBlack Dirt Farm is a diversified family farm in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. They collect food scraps from the community, forage hens, make compost and worm castings with the excess food and manure, and use them to nourish our soils and crops. A VFF Business Builder loan will allow them to expand their egg operation. They will use it to construct and outfit a new 30’x96’ greenhouse, to house our new flock of 1,000 birds, with an attached wash and pack house.
Read MoreAdam’s Berry Farm in Charlotte is one of the largest certified organic berry farms in Vermont. They grow organic strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries for local distribution to wholesale accounts, restaurants, breweries, CSAs, and Burlington Farmers’ Market customers. A VFF Business Builder Loan will allow them to expand their blueberry production by adding 4.5 acres of blueberries and installing new packing equipment that will increase efficiency and provide higher quality fruit.
Read MoreHappy Bird Poultry Farm in Isle La Motte raises meat chickens for sale to wholesale restaurant customers as well as local customers from their small farm store. A Business Builder Loan from the Vermont Farm Fund allowed owners Ember and Stacey Boyle to expand their barn and more than double the number of chickens they raise.
Read MoreAnanda Gardens is a diverse, small scale, certified organic farm, located 10 minutes from downtown Montpelier. They offer fresh, delicious, and nutritious organic veggies through a Convenient Home Delivery CSA, Farmstand CSA, and wholesale. With a Business Builder loan from the VFF, they plan to make improvements to their wash and pack station, which will allow them to expand to offer a winter CSA option.
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