Posts in Emergency
Fort Waite Farm

Fort Waite Farm is a 5th generation Vermont dairy farm in Corinth. When severe drought conditions caused their spring-fed well to run dry, farm owners Mary and Elijah White were forced to haul water from a neighbor's pond. In urgent need of capital, they reached out to the Farm Fund for help. In less than two weeks they had the funds in hand for a combination Emergency and Business Builder loan to drill a new water source for the farm.

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Sweet Sound Aquaculture

The VFF was happy to be able to provide an Emergency Loan to help Sweet Sound Aquaculture recover from a recent electrical power surge that caused the loss of their shrimp crop. A high wind event in January 2022 caused unusual power surges and interruptions in electrical service that shut down the aeration systems at the farm. The result was a loss of over 600 lbs of shrimp.

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Three Cow Creamery

Three 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.

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Wild Kid Farm

The 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.

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Allstad Farm

Allstad Farm is an 87-acre farm in Hardwick raising Angus beef and high quality mixed grass hay. Since moving onto the farm, they have experienced severe water flooding every spring affecting water quality, eroding soil, and damaging the barn. An Emergency Loan from the VFF will help to cover water damage expenses and repairs to the barn.

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Vermont Bean Crafters

Vermont Bean Crafters suffered smoke damage to their processing facility in Warren after a vehicle parked outside overnight caught on fire. As a result, much of their food processing equipment needed to be replaced or extensively cleaned. A $7,500 Emergency Loan from the VFF helped them cover these costs until their insurance claim could be processed.

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Golden Well Sanctuary

Golden Well Sanctuary is an organic vegetable producer and apiary in New Haven, VT that also offers farm events, agritourism opportunities, and educational workshops. An Emergency Loan from the Vermont Farm Fund will help Golden Well recover from 2 major floods within 2 weeks in the fall of 2019. Water levels on Halloween reached Irene levels and inundated their barn, flooded supplies, equipment, breached the well and flooded the basement, leaving their family without heat or hot water in the farmhouse.

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Wild Heart Farm & Refuge

A record storm on Halloween night created chasms 30 feet wide and 11 feet deep in the driveway at Wild Heart Farm & Refuge, exposing the electric and water lines, and leaving their home and farm inaccessible and without potable water. An Emergency Loan will help them to repair nearly 1,000 feet of damage along their driveway.

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EmergencyKate Stephenson2019
Green & Gold CSA

On Halloween night 2019 water rose over the banks of the New Haven River, inundating the fields at Green & Gold CSA in New Haven. This came on the heels of a flood two weeks earlier which had destroyed 75% of the vegetable crops still in the ground. The Halloween flood destroyed all remaining crops and entered the barn, outbuildings, house, tractor, and the owners’ personal cars.

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Small Axe Farm

Small Axe Farm in Barnet, VT lost their barn in a devastating fire that also killed a close friend and co-worker who was visiting. An Emergency Loan from the VFF will help them rebuild, covering some of the shortfall between the insurance coverage and the cost of construction.

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Ofsuryk Farm

David and Joyce Ofsuryk own and operate a dairy farm in Coventry, Vermont with 43 mature cows and over 20 young stock. They've been farming together for over 20 years. They applied for an Emergency Loan to help cover costs for winter feed when their cows went dry and they were unable to ship milk.

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EmergencyKate Stephenson2019
Maple Valley Farm

The Shurtleff family has been farming in Bridgewater, VT for over 100 years. Their family dairy farm, Maple Valley Farm, is the last dairy farm still operating in the town of Bridgewater. Their corn fields were invaded by black bears this fall. A friend put up a game camera, and at one point, counted 11 bears in one field alone! A $10,000 Emergency Loan from the VFF will allow Richard to purchase additional feed for his cows through the winter.

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