Pastured Poultry

Broilers: All our chicks arrive at thefarm within 24 hours of birth. After 2-4 weeks in our brooder, the chicks are out on pasture in “chicken tractors”, portable pens that are moved daily to new pasture. Our chickens will get up to 70% of their diet from pasture, making for a more delicious meat that is low in saturated fat, and high in Omega-3’s and CLA’s. The other 30% will come from specially formulated organic corn, grains, natural trace minerals and probiotics. We only produce broilers during the grazing season.

The price - a bit higher than conventional chicken - is based on the fact that we are using certified organic feed, the cost of which is nearly three times that of conventional feed. With our chicken, as with our beef, we guarantee that the animals will have fresh pasture daily during the growing season, and that they will not receive any antibiotics, synthetic vitamins, hormones, or appetite enhancers of any kind. We sell whole birds only. Please see order forms for prices and delivery dates.

We process all our own poultry to guarantee quality and cleanliness. Come see how we do it!

Turkeys: These birds are difficult to raise, but the pay off is worth the effort. Our methods match those used for broiler chickens - daily movement onto new lush pasture, carefully formulated organic supplemental feed and fresh water, turn out tasty birds that are as healthy as they are good! Our birds average about 20 lbs and are finished in time for Thanksgiving.

Layers: Our layer hens are the only poultry that we keep year round and are made up of hearty brown egg producers Barred Rock, Rhode Island Red and Black Star breeds. During the grazing season, our layer hens reside in the Egg Ark, a henhouse on wheels complete with egg nests accessible from the outside.

Our layer hens are the “sanitizers” of the farm. We use them to follow our cows and sheep on pasture. As they scratch and poke through cow and sheep manure, they eat many of the emerging larvae that would otherwise become flies and parasites. In addition to their pasture feeding, they receive the same high quality organic supplemental feed we use for our broilers.

The eggs are dramatically different from conventional eggs. Produced on forage, the egg yolks sport a deep orange color (as opposed to the wan yellow of conventional), and provide a rich and flavorful eating experience.

What’s the Difference?

 

Maple Wind Poultry	Conventional Poultry
No vaccinations	Vaccinations (immuno-depressant)
Pasture based natural foods	No pasture
No fed antibiotics	Daily doses of antibiotics
Fed Grain is organic certified and local	Grain produced with chemical assistance
Compost and natural soil amendments	Chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides
Moved daily to fresh pasture grassless coop yard	Confined in grassless coop yard
High in Omega-3 Fatty Acids, CLAs	Low concentrations of Omega-3s
Local transportation — produced, processed and sold locally	Long distance transport — 1000 miles for average chicken in the U.S.

Where and how to purchase our products:
Chickens and turkeys are processed on the farm in a state of the art facility. All birds are packaged in cryovac bags. Both chickens and turkeys are sold as whole birds only. For specific products, cut and prices, please go to our How and Where to Buy, Retail Price List and Order Form sections.

 

Pasture Raised Pork

NEW for 2008! Our pigs are milk fed! We now have a family cow and Eliza Jane is producing about 8-10 gallons of milk- the pigs love it! Our pigs are on pasture ahead of our sheep flock getting rotated every day. So far they have been very herdable!

Raising pigs is an acquired skill, and we’re starting to get a feel for it. We raise two groups of piglets each year! Pigs can get as much as 70% of their diet from above and below the pasture surface, and we round out their diet with high-quality organic feed!
In addition to raising delicious pork, we use the pigs to re-condition pasture that may not be producing as well as we’d like. We bring them in as sodbusters on a quarter acre at a time, then follow their efforts with re-seeding and mulching.

We have four sows and plan to farrow piglets in Spring and Fall. Come see the little ones cavort!

What’s The Difference? 

Maple Wind Pork	Conventional Pork
No vaccinations	Vaccinations (immuno-depressant)
Pasture based natural foods	No pasture
No fed antibiotics	Daily doses of antibiotics
Fed Grain processed in Vermont by Morrisons Feed	Grain produced with chemical assistance
Compost and natural soil amendments	Chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides
Rotated to fresh pasture	Confined in cages too small for movement
High in Omega-3 Fatty Acids, CLAs	Low concentrations of Omega-3s
Local transportation — produced, processed and sold locally	Long distance transport — 1000 miles for average pork in the U.S.

How and Where to purchase our products:
For specific products, cut and prices, please go to our How and Where to Buy, Retail Price List and Order Form sections.

Grassfed and Finished Lamb

Our lamb is produced entirely on grass and is taken to market in October each year. We are currently working on ways to extend our season and offer lamb year round. Check with us about availability. Currently we sell all our lamb as whole animals direct to consumer, by hanging weight. We could have sold more than twice of what we sold last year, so order early!

In order to produce the healthiest and tastiest lamb possible, we chose the Katahdin breed. Katahdins are hair sheep - they do not produce wool - and actually shed their hair at the end of each winter. They are also bred to do well on pasture without grain supplementation. Below are the elements and benefits of our production system, but don’t take our word for it… come out and see for yourself!

• Our lambs are Katahdin hair sheep bred to do well on a grass only diet, without shearing, tail docking and foot trimming.
• We utilize a management-intensive grazing system in which the sheep are moved daily onto fresh pasture and aren’t returned to that same pasture until it has had time to recover completely. The result is a method that promotes fertile soils and eliminates erosion.
• The only feed supplement our sheep receive are natural free-choice minerals and sea kelp to increase fertility and general health.
• There are no added grains, antibiotics or hormones used in the production of our lamb.
• Lamb produced using only grass contains higher levels of Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLAs) than conventional grain fed lamb. Omega-3s and CLAs have been linked to reduced risk of heart disease, some cancers and adult onset diabetes.
• Sheep are prevented from grazing on wetlands or near water sources, reducing potential for polluting.
• We sell locally - most lamb sold in the U.S. comes from New Zealand!
• Lamb is dry-aged for 7-14 days before processing to ensure tenderness.

Maple Wind Lamb	Conventional Lamb
No vaccinations	Vaccinations (immuno-depressant)
Late spring lambing	Winter lambing — stress
No antibiotics or growth hormones	Daily doses of antibiotics & hormones
Compost and natural soil amendments	Chemical fertilizers
Complete prevention of access to wetlands	Generally unlimited access to ponds and streams — fecal contamination
Forest fenced out — biodiversity encouraged	Inappropriate grazing areas — forest and steep hillsides
Forage feeding — permanent ground cover; no chemicals or tillage	Grain feeding — expensive, erosive ecologically unsound
Forage fattened — fat outside muscle and lower saturated fat	Grain fattened — fat inside muscle (marbling) and high saturated fat
Local transportation — produced, processed and sold locally	Long distance transport — most lamb sold in the U.S. comes from New Zealand

How and Where to purchase our products:
For specific products, cut and prices, please go to our How and Where to Buy, Retail Price List and Order Form sections.

100% Grassfed and Finished Beef

Our beef is produced entirely on grass and is therefore the healthiest beef you can buy. Below are the elements and benefits of our production system, but don’t take our word for it — come out and see for yourself!

• Our cows are Angus/ Hereford/ Devon bred to do well on a grass only diet.
• We utilize a management-intensive grazing system in which the cows are moved daily onto fresh pasture and aren’t returned to that same pasture until it has had time to recover completely. The result is a method that promotes fertile soils and eliminates erosion.
• The only feed supplement our cows receive are natural minerals and sea kelp to increase fertility and general health. There are no added grains, antibiotics or hormones used in the production of our beef. Beef produced using only grass contains higher levels of Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLAs) than conventional grain fed beef. Omega-3s and CLAs have been linked to reduced risk of heart disease, some cancers and adult onset diabetes.
• Cows are prevented from grazing on wetlands or near water sources, reducing potential for pollution.
• We sell locally, whereas, the average conventionally-produced steak travels 1000 miles before reaching your table. Beef is dry-aged for 14-21 days before processing to ensure tenderness.

 

News

Work and Intern Opportunities

Farm Apprentice - Download Job Description 

Horses at our farm

Here at Maple Wind Farm, we have expanded our environmental commitment in an effort to further reduce our carbon footprint. We now own a set of Percheron draft horses, Henry and Herbie, that we use for a variety of tasks around the farm. Bred for their power and stamina, they are a great fit to work the hillsides around the farm.

Presently, we use the team to pull our disk harrow in the spring in order to smooth and prepare the ground for the growing season. Additionally, we use them in our logging operation to thin our sugarbush and provide firewood for the yurts and our sugar operation and manure spreading with our ground driven spreader. And of course, we are continually looking for new and exciting ways to expand their utility.

By harnessing true horse power, we are able to substantially reduce our fuel consumption and costs. This is just another step in our efforts to live a more sustainable lifestyle, and provide our customers with more authentic products. And we are giving them the opportunities to get in hitch and do what they were bred to do. 

We have 9 indoor 10×12 box stalls for boarding horses. Call us if you’d like a tour of the facilities. We maintain clean stalls, offer hay, grain, and fresh pasture daily for our boarders. Folks that enjoy trail riding and the use of an indoor arena on rainy/cold winter days will enjoy Maple Wind Farm.

 

Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA): a vibrant movement that provides members with fresh food directly from their local farmer each week of the growing season. Members pay an annual fee prior to the growing season, thus providing the farmer upfront income to purchase seeds, compost, and labor.
Maple Wind Farm CSA: an opportunity to create a community of friends who prioritize eating good food and supporting their local economy.

• High quality, fresh vegetables, herbs and flowers from the 2nd week in June until the last week in October
• Pick-up at Maple Wind Farm in Huntington or Andrews Farm Store in Richmond on Thursdays
• Support a local farm, promote eating in season
• The knowledge that your dollars are keeping the local economy strong
• Some varieties will be Pick your Own -new in 08!

Maple Wind Farm will also offer meat shares as part of their CSA. Pasture Raised pork and poultry as well as grass-fed and finished beef and lamb will be available. 

Sample Shares

EARLY SUMMER	MID-SUMMER	FALL
radishes	tomatoes	potatoes
spinach	peppers	carrots
mixed greens	onions	turnips
broccoli	lettuce	spinach
kale	herb samplings	winter squash
garlic scapes	carrots	chard
beets	melon	pumpkin
summer squash	eggplant	cucumbers
	garlic	kale
	flowers

Please feel free to download a Membership Form for veggie and meat shares! 
If you have questions, call Maple Wind Farm at (802) 434-7257

Environmental Commitment

Maple Wind Farm is dedicated to sustainability in all its forms. Here are just a few ways we make an effort to preserve and protect our environment.

• We use intensive rotational grazing, making sure not to graze any piece of land until the grass has recovered fully. This method builds soils, reduces erosion and increases the diversity of our pasture, as well as transition zones where meadows and forests meet.
• Because we graze a variety of different species over the same ground, we encourage a diverse ecosystem and utilize different aspects of the pasture with different animals.
• We’re dedicated to energy conservation and the production and use of alternative energy.
• We’re not called Maple Wind Farm for nothing! We have installed a 2nd 10kW Wind Turbine to take advantage of the constant breeze here, and have produced 500 kilowatt/hours of energy per month. Tied into the grid, we utilize what we need and export any excess.
• Pasture-based farming reduces our use of fossil fuels. Most of our feed is eaten live and in place by the animals, and most of their manure is evenly distributed as part of the rotation process. The energy comes from the animals doing what they naturally do.
• Animals also provide energy for other farm activities, and pigs do a large part of that work. We use pigs as sodbusters to recondition pasture, and lace our compost piles with organic corn to get pigs to turn them with their amazingly strong noses.
• We’ll be using Bio-diesel as a significant part of our fuel for farm vehicles.
• Nearly all our farm building fixtures are outfitted with compact fluorescent light bulbs, reducing our energy consumption by 1/3.
• We capture all of our manure during the winter months when soils cannot absorb it. By doing so, we reduce our potential for polluting our Huntington watershed. In the spring we compost it (with pigs as our turners), and spread it on our pastures as fertilizer.
• We’re committed to selling locally! With the average conventional steak travelling 1000 miles from home to table in the U.S., and much of our lamb supply coming from New Zealand, we’ve decided to cut out the environmental costs of such practices by keeping close to home.

 

Our Story

For seven years I didn’t eat meat, not because I didn’t like it or objected to the killing of animals for food, but because the negative health and environmental evidence was overwhelmingly in favor of leaving meat out of my diet entirely. But then I started reading about grass-fed meats that were produced using methods that built soil rather than destroyed it and touted health benefits that reduced risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes. The information touched off a long process of discovery and learning that eventually led not only to eating meat again, but also to farming grass-fed and finished meat products.

Deciding to Grass Farm
Like many life-changing journeys, our transition from a non-agrarian lifestyle to grass farming came through unexpected circumstances. The truth is we never dreamed we would farm at all. But caring for a piece of land has a way of changing and concentrating your focus.

My wife, Beth, and I fell in love with the old dairy farm at the end of our road. It had lain fallow for five years, the pastures and hayfields sporting poplar saplings and a healthy crop of goldenrod. The farm’s hilltop views, wildlife and easy access to the Long and Catamount Trails first caught our attention. When it went up for sale amidst rumors of development, we made an offer. You might say it was an impulse buy.

It’s amazing how different reality and fantasy can be. We’d given no serious thought to management, just vague ideas about keeping the meadows open. So we borrowed a tractor and brushogged eighty acres of rough, ledgy hilltop meadow that first fall. It was a miserable experience with lots of broken parts, diesel bills, and scary passes on our higher angle ground. We were miserable enough to decide never to do it again.

Our decision left us with some questions. How should we keep the farm open? Could we do it without compromising our environmental ethic; use the farm without abusing it? We did a lot of learning that winter and settled on a strategy that focused on management-intensive grazing. We started with thirteen Angus cows and a few horses (not nearly enough animals to keep ahead of our grass). Six years (four part time and two full time) later we’re raising 90 head of Angus, 100 sheep, 40-60 pigs, 400 broiler chickens, 100 layer hens, 50 turkeys, and 9 horses all rotated over the same pasture. Our ruminants (cows and sheep) are fed entirely on grass, while our poultry, pigs, and horses receive supplemental organic grain. In the process our soils have increased in fertility and organic matter without amendments.

Grass became the central part of our operation for a number of reasons. We wanted to capitalize on the fact that ruminants hold the unique ability to extract solar energy out of grass. We also wanted to minimize our use of fossil fuels by allowing the animals to harvest their own feed. There is concrete evidence that management intensive grazing can increase pasture production by as much as 40%, and increase daily weight gains in ruminants by up to 50%. Building fertility and eliminating erosion, reducing our chances of contributing to water pollution, and eliminating the use of herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers were also major factors. We also learned that relatively stress-free pasture-based systems produced healthier, happier, animals, a factor that has been correlated with tastier, more tender meat. The most important factor for us, however, was the growing volume of research that pointed to the health benefits of grass-fed-only meats.

The Practice of Intensive Grazing
During the grazing season we move our animals daily to fresh pasture. The paddocks are sized to accommodate each group’s daily needs for feed. Depending on the time of year, we’ll let each paddock rest and recover anywhere from 14 to 30 days before returning to it for another grazing session. The idea is to graze each pasture when the grass is at the height of its energy, its adolescent stage — well grown, but not to the seed head stage. This process allows the animals to gain the greatest benefit from the grass, while allowing the grass the best chance to recover fully before the next grazing. Many species of young weeds that are either eaten or trampled can’t seed out and are eventually overtaken by hardier grasses adapted to growing back quickly. Daily movement naturally distributes manure and increases organic matter and fertility on the farm.

The practice amounts to mimicking the natural methods of wild ruminants who eat intensely in close herds for security, then move on as a group, allowing the previous ground to recover before returning. It also allows farmers to take advantage of high quality feeds and essentially free sun, soil and rain inputs without the added financial and environmental expense of tilling, harvesting and transporting feed to animals using modern machinery. The animals benefit from the movement, fresh air, and sunshine as they enjoy unrestricted access to their natural food, and move away from areas contaminated by fresh manure.

With a developed electric fence and water line infrastructure, the amount of labor needed to manage our animals is far reduced over many other methods. Temporary fences go up in minutes, and the animals adapt quickly to moving from paddock to paddock. Our labor for basic cow care, for instance, averages less than a half an hour a day for one person.

Benefits
“The consumer trend in this country has been to buy food as cheaply as possible and pay for the health consequences later at any cost.” Ed Martsoff, innovative sheep producer.

Most cattle and sheep (even those raised in natural and organic programs) are fed grain as a primary diet source for thirty days or more. The advantage to this method is that animals can be fattened quickly and brought to market faster. Unfortunately, ruminants are not evolved to eat such high-energy, easily digested feeds without serious negative ramifications for their health and the health of those who consume them for food. Grain diets raise the acidity of the rumen, allowing unhealthy bacteria to flourish and often making the animals sick with a disease called acidosis. This condition is so rampant in conventional feedlots that antibiotics are fed as a regular part of the daily diet.

Feeding grain also changes the fat make-up of meat. Much of the Omega-3 fatty acids and Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLA’s) found in balanced amounts in grass-fed-only meats are missing in grain fed meats. Omega-3’s and CLA’s in human diets have been linked to lower cholesterol levels, and reduced risk of heart disease, some types of cancers, and adult-onset diabetes. By contrast, consumers have long known that conventional red meat holds increased risk for these conditions. It used to be that your only source for these essential fats was wild fish or flaxseed oil. Now you can get the same benefit from your local grass-fed meat producer.

There are also environmental benefits. While we still use tractors and other equipment to make hay and baleage for the winter months, we finish cattle for market using about half the fossil fuel energy of confinement or feedlot methods. The natural distribution of manure alone saves hundreds of gallons of fuel. Our farm remains a very low risk for nutrient loading or polluting from manure run off into the local watershed.

Perhaps the most sought after benefit for our customers is the fact that grass-fed beef and lamb, with their naturally varied diets, have more robust flavor than other meats.

The benefits to our farm family are embedded in our everyday life. Working outside within the natural cycles of growth and orchestrating carefully timed movement of five different animal groups on the same piece of land has its own intrinsic rewards.

Challenges
With any method there are challenges and management intensive grazing is no different. Currently it takes us twice as long to finish beef steers on grass in Vermont as it does to finish steers on grain. This means we take our steers through two winters before market — an expensive proposition. It is also difficult to raise grass-fed beef and lamb with as much intramuscular fat (marbling) as conventional meats. The result can be toughness, though we’ve made great strides in this area through rotation management, finish timing and genetics.

Our methods sit outside the commodity market norm. It follows that our marketing is going to be different as well. Obviously, we could not be sustainable financially if we were paid at commodity prices. In addition to our increased time to market, we do not have the unfair advantage of highly subsidized grain production enjoyed by conventional producers. Being outside the mainstream means that we have to market directly to health conscious consumers who are willing to pay the real cost of food. As tough and time consuming as direct marketing can be, it comes with a distinct benefit. Our customers get to know us personally, and through that relationship, come to trust us and the foods they eat.

What’s Next?
We’re not satisfied. We want to extend grass-farming and rotational grazing into new frontiers. Currently we’re looking seriously at developing enough stockpiled pasture to take all our animals through the winter without making hay or baleage. Seeding high value, cold tolerant, winter annuals into our pastures may be a part of this program.

Looking for the same health benefits from grass-fed dairy products that we find in our meats, we’re considering seasonal, once-a-day milking of cows or sheep to offer high value, healthy milk, yogurt and cheese without using grain.

As we look to improve our pastures, we’ll be analyzing our soil and searching for any natural amendments that might increase our yields.

A livestock farm with grass as its foundation can be profitable and relatively easy to operate, needing little in the way of expensive machinery and labor. The quality of life produced from a grass-based operation is excellent. We’ve learned that a successful operation comes primarily from knowing how to mesh your ruminants with the natural environment. Let the animals do what nature intended them to do!

Sources: Why Grass-fed is Best, by Jo Robinson. Eatwild.com. University of California — Chico, Dept of Agriculture, University of Vermont Center for Sustainable Agriculture., Stockman GrassFarmer, Ridgeland

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Here’a another article Bruce wrote in Vermont Commons, Voices of Independence.Winter 2007 issue. Titled “Grass Fed is Best, Growing Vermont’s Farm Future”

About Us

Established in 1998 by Bruce Hennessey and Beth Whiting, Maple Wind Farm reflects their deeply held belief in ecologically sustainable farming.
Beth and Bruce both hold master’s degrees in education, backgrounds that serve their interest in educating the public about the benefits of pasture-based farming for both the farmer and the consumer.

Bruce spent eleven years teaching science and mathematics to all age groups (k-12) in the classroom. He most recently directed the North Country Camps, a summer residential camp focused on wilderness trips with farming (including horses, goats, llamas and pigs!) offered as part of an extensive in-camp program, for eight years.

Beth is an artist, master gardener, and organizer, who also spent many years directing wilderness trips through both Wilderness Ventures and the North Country Camps. Beth is an experienced entrepeneur, with successful business forays into community mapping, hand-painted clothing and adventure travel. She currently is the CSA vegetable manager, bookkeeper, and marketing manager for the farm.

Beth and Bruce enjoy the farming lifestyle, sharing it with their son David and his younger sister Bryn.

 

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Order Forms and Prices

 2008 Maple Wind Farm Meat Order Form
Download this form to order bulk (beef/lamb/pork/poultry) and meat shares.

2008 CSA Membership Form
Download this form to become a member of our Community Supported Agriculture vegetable and/or meat program.

 

Lamb: Cutting Directions
Download this form to explain the sort of cuts you would like for your meat order.

Pork: Cutting Directions
Download this form to explain the sort of cuts you would like for your meat order.

How & Where to Buy

• Retail sales at Maple Wind Farm, 1340 Carse Road, Huntington, VT.
• Richmond Farmer’s Market (Fridays 3:00-6:30, Volunteers Green, June -Oct.)
• MiIddlebury Farmer’s Market (Saturdays 9-12:30, Marble Works, May - Oct.)
• Shelburne Farmer’s Market (Saturdays 9-1:00, Village Green, May-Oct.)

Also featured seasonally in:

Stores

• Beaudry’s, Huntington
• Richmond Corner Market
• Vermont Green Grocer, Richmond
• City Market, Burlington

Restaurants

• Mary’s at Baldwin Creek, Bristol
• Kitchen Table Bistro, Richmond
• Hen of the Wood, Waterbury
• Chez Claudine, Stowe
• Bistro Sauce, Shelburne
• Auriel’s Riverside Cafe, Montpelier
• Restaurant Phoebe, Montpelier

BEEF

Customers are welcome to buy at wholesale prices, if they buy more than fifty pounds of prepackaged product, or buy a minimum of a quarter beef animal. Animals sold by the whole, half, and split half (quarter) are sold according to their hot hanging weight. Hot hanging weight is the weight taken after slaughter with skin, organs, head and feet removed. Actual yield when processed from hot hanging weight to individual packages are about 60-75% of hanging weight. See order forms for prices!

LAMB

Customers are welcome to buy at wholesale prices, if they buy more than fifty pounds of prepackaged product, or buy a minimum of a whole animal. Whole lambs are sold by their hot hanging weight. Hot hanging weight is the weight taken after slaughter with skin, organs, head and feet removed. Actual yield when processed from hot hanging weight to individual packages are about 50-65% of hanging weight. See order forms for prices!

PORK

Customers are welcome to buy at wholesale prices, if they buy more than fifty pounds of prepackaged product, or buy a minimum of a half a pig. Hogs are sold by their hot hanging weight. Hot hanging weight is the weight taken after slaughter with skin, organs, head and feet removed. Actual yield when processed from hot hanging weight to individual packages are about 60-75% of hanging weight. Kielbasa, Hot & Mild Italian, and Breakfast sausage are available as are smoke-cured bacon and ham. See order forms for prices!

POULTRY

Customers are welcome to buy at wholesale prices if they buy a minimum of 20 chickens. All our chickens and turkeys are processed on the farm in a state of the art facility. All chickens and turkeys are vacuum-packed in cryovac plastic. See order forms for prices!

MAPLE

Call us for details, availability and prices.

 

Grassfed Resources

 

	www.eatwild.com A resource for healthy food information, including pasture-based products
	www.csuchico.edu/agr/grsfdbef/ The California State University at Chico research report on grassfed beef nutrition and benefits.
	www.eatwellguide.org A source for finding sustainable farms and producers in your area.
	www.stockmangrassfarmer.com A monthly magazine devoted to the why’s and how’s of producing beef, lamb, pork and poultry on pasture.
	www.acresusa.com A periodical focused on sustainable and organic farming.
	www.themeatrix.com A clever flash-animation movie describing the need to support sustainable family farms.
	Maple Wind Farm is proud to be an active member of the following organizations:   Vermont Grass Farmers Association Vermont Beef Producers Association Northeast Organic Farmers Association

 

 

Maple Syrup

We did it! After several years of “almost”, we made syrup in 2008.  Our sugarbush, with 309 taps (not bad for our first season- more in 2009!), produced a variety of sweet syrup from fancy to Grade B. We are proud to include 4 pints of our own syrup with every Vegetable CSA membership this summer. The rest you will find at our farmer’s market booths for sale in Richmond, Middlebury and Shelburne.

With the help of our two new draft horses, Herbie and Henry, and a sleigh with a sap transfer tank, we brought up our sap from the collection tank to the sugar shack.  A big thanks to Nate (our farm manager) for putting in the extra effort to get this project off the ground.

 

Happy Summer from Maple Wind Farm

WHY GRASSFED?

At Maple Wind Farm, all of our animals are raised on pasture, and our cows and sheep are produced entirely on grass. What are the health, ecological, and societal benefits of a pasture-based farm?

Read below:

• The use of intensive rotational grazing builds soils and increases diversity and fertility, while reducing erosion.
• Animals are allowed to express their natural behavior, reducing stress and resulting in higher quality healthy products.
• Animals are moved daily to new pasture, naturally distributing their manure and thereby drastically reducing food consumption.
• Grassfed meats have reduced fat content.
• Healthy essential fats such as Omega-3 and Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLA’s) are present in higher concentrations in grassfed meats.
• Food is sold locally. As consumers develop relationships with Maple Wind Farm, they gain an awareness and appreciation of the origin and production methods of their food.
• Pasture-based farming allows small family farms to thrive.

Read our story for more information about Maple Wind Farm’s pasture-based philosophy.