Business Focus

Tangletown Farm is a small Vermont family farm committed to providing high quality and well cared for meat and eggs to their community. Meats include free-range chicken, duck, guinea hen, and turkey, pasture-raised pork, and grass-fed beef, lamb, and rabbit.

Loan Summary

When Lila and David moved their farm from Middlesex to West Glover, expanding their operation and stretching their budget, they were looking for ways to raise their pastured animals more efficiently and economically. Though originally intended to buy a grain hammermill to grind their own feed, the VFF loan ultimately helped purchase a second feed storage bin, buy a flock of layers and extra equipment to accommodate the hens.

The Backstory

After Lila and Dave bought their dream farm in the Northeast Kingdom, they spent a winter brainstorming ways to reduce their feed costs. A grain hammermill initially seemed like the perfect solution to both decrease ongoing feed costs and provide healthy feed to supplement their animals’ diets. Further research, however, showed that the infrastructure costs to install the hammermill far outpaced the price of the machinery. Plan B for Tangletown was to use the VFF loan to purchase a second grain storage bin, allowing them to buy the two different types of grains they needed in bulk for their diverse animals, cutting down on their feed costs. They decided the best use of the remaining money was to buy a flock of laying hens and the equipment needed to support them.

The VFF loan turned out to be a lifesaver for us. The hens we bought with the money provided income at a time when we were faced with significant unexpected expenses and grew into a thriving new egg business for the farm.

The Bottom Line

Lila and Dave’s purchasing choices proved to be prescient, as their first full crop of summer hay ended up getting wet and going bad. Between having to buy feed for the winter to replace the hay, and having a freak windstorm damage some of their portable chicken houses, the layers bought with their VFF loan provided badly-needed income at a critical time for the farm. Things are looking brighter for Tangletown Farm this summer. They just purchased another 400 hens to expand their egg business, as well as mechanical egg washer to reduce their labor. The couple continue to strive to provide a good life to their animals and birds, providing access to 8 acres of pasture from the barn to their pigs and movable houses for their turkeys and chickens.