Vermont Housing Conservation Board 2005 - Vermont Housing and ...

This joins a mix of new and retrofitted
buildings at the Champlain Orchards
farmstead that now also house a cider
mill, cold storage room, and packing
facility.
Until now, Vermont apples destined
for peeling have been sent
to New York state. As Champlain
Orchards develops the capacity to
store, peel, and process apples on the
farm, Suhr is working with state government
to promote fresh apple slices
for distribution to Vermont schools.
“Studies have shown that kids will
eat 40 percent more fruit when they
consume slices,” he reports.
Champlain Orchards is also the
sole supplier of peeled slices to the
Vermont Mystic Pie Company, an
emerging Stowe-based business that
has begun to market its top-quality
apple pies up and down the East
Coast, with the aim of expanding
nationally. Champlain Orchards’ sales
to Mystic Pie made up just one percent
of its business last year, says Suhr
— but may account for ten percent of
its business in 2006.
“I would like to store a variety of
fantastic New England apples that
would entice people to shop locally
year-round,” adds Suhr, who has
begun to buy apples from four neighboring
producers. “A Vermont grower
does not have to sell his whole crop
to a broker in New York if he knows
that he will have a buyer locally yearround.
“There is opportunity out there for
all of us, young and old growers. We
know how to grow fruit — and we are
trying to take each step above that.
It takes a lot of coordination, a lot of
investment; but in the long haul, we
are very self-sufficient.”
BROWN FARM, RANDOLPH CENTER
(continued from page 27)
organic production. Christine was
producing vegetables and ornamental
plants in a modest-sized
greenhouse on the farm.
“Our main focus is to produce
a quality produce in anything we
do,” Christine says. “Our goal was
to increase the value of our product,
without enlarging our farm or our
number of animals. In the first year
with the Intervale process, one of
our goals was to expand my markets
in the greenhouse business.
“I’d done that business for a
couple of years, and I knew the piece
I was missing was marketing,” she
says. “Typically, that’s the skill farmers
lack. We’ve been pretty good at
tracking our financials, but there’s
always room for improvement — and
with the transitioning to organic, it’s
a whole different ballgame.”
Working with the Intervale and
NOFA-VT, the Browns created a
business plan and a marketing plan,
coupled with production and financial
analysis. The plans called for a
second greenhouse, so that Christine
could expand her ornamentals business
and take advantage of a local
demand for early-season vegetables.
Cost overruns had kept the Browns
from completing the full greenhouse
that Christine needed for optimum
produce quality.
This year, the family was granted
an Implementation Award, a new
feature of the Farm Viability Program.
“The grant helped us finish raised
beds, to start the early vegetables
this coming spring,” Christine says.
“It also enabled us to put in insula-
The Browns were named 2005 Farm
Family of the Year by the Vermont Farm
Bureau.
tion, to reduce energy costs, and
drip irrigation to reduce labor costs.”
Her plants are now sold both
on-farm and through the Hanover
Food Co-op stores in Hanover and
Lebanon, N.H.
“Farming’s such a labor-intensive
operation that there’s not always
time to explore the skills you need
to make improvements,” Christine
reflects. “The thing I like about the
Viability Program is that it’s oneon-one.
You can formulate a plan
that’s custom-tailored, so I think the
money is more efficient in helping,
and the long-term effect is better.
“Now,” she adds, “I can concentrate
on quality.” That focus has not
gone unrecognized: In 2005, the
Browns were named Farm Family
of the Year by the Vermont Farm
Bureau.
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