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For Immediate Release: August 28, 2009 Contact information: | |||
| Bread and Butter Farm to be New Agricultural Enterprise Adam Wilson and Corie Pierce, co-owners and operators of Bread and Butter Farm, will bring their agricultural enterprise to South Burlington this fall, the Vermont Land Trust announced today. Adam and Corie produce high-quality fresh milk, grass-fed beef, pastured pork, traditional German breads, and vegetables. Bread and Butter Farm will purchase the 143-acre Leduc Farm from the Vermont Land Trust for $225,000 later this month. A conservation easement placed on the land at the time of sale will help ensure that the land will permanently remain productive farmland. Adam and Corie were selected as the new owners of the Leduc Farm after submitting an extensive proposal and business plan to a competitive process conducted by the Vermont Land Trust as part of their Farmland Access Program. This conservation program helps diversified, experienced farmers gain access to productive, affordable farmland. Bread and Butter Farm’s varied, synergistic operations are well matched for the Leduc Farm’s soils, infrastructure, and location. “Bread and Butter plan is very well adapted to both the farm structure and the local markets for farm products,” said Alex Wylie, VLT’s Agriculture Director. “Also, Adam and Corie bring a combined 16 years of direct experience and training in agriculture.” Adam will move his specialty dairy and bakery—the Essex Creamery and Adam’s Village Bakery—from Essex Junction to the Leduc Farm, where he will join his business with the promising specialty winter greens and summer vegetable operation to be headed by Corie. Adam and Corie plan for Bread and Butter Farm’s bakery to adjoin a farm store, allowing customers to see the bakers mill local grains into flour, and shape the dough, fire the brick oven, and bake the bread. Bread and Butter Farm’s fresh bread and vegetables will also be sold at several local farmers’ markets. Eventually, a cheese room will be built to make yogurt, butter and cheese. The direct sales of all of these farm products will draw community members onto the farm and will create a secure economic future for the farm. Bread and Butter Farm also plans to engage the community through on-the-farm events, such as potlucks, evening and weekend concerts, art shows, and one-day workshops in arts, music, and farming. A farmer training program will provide educational experience to a farming apprentice and help to seed the next generation of Vermont farmers. “This former dairy farm is an ideal home for our growing herd of Jersey Cows, year-round vegetables and wood-fired bread bakery,” said Adam. “The Leduc Farm offers a unique opportunity for Bread and Butter Farm to create a productive operation where all of our customers are connected to the land and the farmers.” The bargain purchase price was made possible with the support of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, the City of South Burlington, and the Town of Shelburne, which supported the conservation effort with an allocation of $470,500, $500,000 and $250,000 respectively. The Vermont Land Trust must raise an additional $25,000 by September 30th to bring this conservation project to fruition. The viability of agriculture rests on farmers themselves—their ability to operate successful enterprises and find suitable land. However, as land values increase and pressures to develop intensify, new farmers are finding it harder and harder to purchase land. “Providing enterprising farmers such as Adam and Corie with access to high quality and affordable farmland is critical to agriculture’s future,” said Gil Livingston, President of the Vermont Land Trust. “And because our farming future is dependent on public support, it is also important to connect community members with farmland and farmers. This project presents South Burlington and Shelburne with a marvelous opportunity to have a local, exciting agricultural initiative close to town.”
For many years, Maurice Leduc operated the farm with help from his brother, Norman. Maurice sold his herd in September of 2004 as he approached retirement age. “We are glad that the farm will be conserved with the Vermont Land Trust and will continue to be farmed.” said Jeanne Leduc. “The towns of South Burlington, Shelburne, the Leducs, and the Vermont Land Trust, have come together to protect this farm,” said Corie Pierce. “They have offered us this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a farm that grows both food and community. We are honored to be chosen.” The Vermont Land Trust will conserve the Leduc Farm through the use of a legal document called a conservation easement. An easement helps landowners and conservation groups voluntarily limit development on productive farmland and forestland, and other meaningful natural and community places. Landowners continue to own, manage, and pay taxes on the land and can sell their land; however, the conservation easement permanently remains on the property. The easement on the Leduc Farm will include a mechanism to assure the farm remains affordable to working farmers in the future. The Vermont Land Trust is a nonprofit organization that works with individuals, communities, and in partnership with many organizations and communities to conserve land for the future of Vermont. In the past 32 years, VLT has helped conserve more than 1,600 parcels of land covering over 495,000 acres or about eight percent of the private, undeveloped land in the state. The conserved land includes over 690 working farms, hundreds of thousands of acres of productive forestland, and numerous parcels of community lands. This conservation work changes the lives of families, invigorates farms, launches new businesses, maintains scenic vistas, encourages recreational opportunity, and fosters a renewed sense of community. For more information, call (802) 223-5234 or visit us on the web at www.vlt.org.
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