Bear 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.

Jessie 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.

XR 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.

Based 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.

Black 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.

Adam’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.

Happy 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.

Ananda 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.

Honey Field Farm is a 25-acre organic vegetable farm located in Norwich, VT operated by husband and wife team Eli Hersh and Valerie Woodhouse. A $30,000 Business Builder Loan from the Vermont Farm Fund will help Eli and Valerie as they get established on this new property and help them to invest in equipment to be able to work efficiently, including a cultivating tractor, ice machine, golf cart, display cooler, and credit card machines.

Clearfield Farm is a Certified Organic mixed vegetable and cut flower farm located in Granville, VT serving the Mad River Valley. They grow 12 acres of produce, most of which goes to the Waitsfield Farmers Market and local grocery stores. A $10,000 Business Builder loan will allow Clearfield Farm to build soil fertility and improve their cold storage and processing facilities in the former dairy barn.

Dick Chase has farming in his blood. An 11th-generation family farmer, he spent most of his life in Newburyport, MA where he started farming in 1964 at Arrowhead Farm. In 2018 he purchased a farm in Alburgh, VT and established West Shore Farm. He plans to use a VFF Business Builder loan to build a 3500 square foot greenhouse. They raise vegetables, pork and beef to be sold through the family’s farmstand, CSA and farmer’s markets in MA.

Family Cow Farmstand (FCF) in Hinesburg, VT is currently Vermont’s largest direct to consumer raw milk producer by volume, selling roughly 9,000 gallons of 100% grass-fed raw cow’s milk to customers in the greater Burlington area. A Business Builder loan from the Vermont Farm Fund will allow Family Cow to establish a farrow-to-finish pork operation and a pastured chicken operation. They will also add frozen storage to their farmstand and renovate an existing pole barn on the property to serve as a space to repair farm equipment.