DUMMERSTON — With more than 130 gifts from the local community, and backing from the town of Dummerston, the Vermont Land Trust has met its $575,000 fundraising campaign goal to conserve the Bunker Farm.
A grant of $396,000 from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service provided the major funding needed to permanently protect the Bunker Farm.
The project will officially be completed later this month, when the Vermont Land Trust (VLT) transfers the Bunker Farm to its new owners - the O'Donnell Family Company.
Using bridge financing, VLT purchased the 169-acre farm from Larry and Marilyn Cassidy last July. Over the past nine months, the land trust raised all necessary funds, including a private campaign that raised $110,000 from residents of Dummerston and nearby towns.
The farm will be sold subject to a conservation easement to the O'Donnell Family Company, comprising Noah Hoskins, Helen O'Donnell, Mike Euphrat, and Jen O'Donnell. The conservation easement will ensure the long-term protection of the Bunker Farm and its affordability to future farmers.
“The community's support means everything to us,” said Noah Hoskins-Forsythe. “Right now we are thrilled to have the chance to bring this historic property back into the local agricultural community and food economy.”
The new enterprise at Bunker Farm will be have five mutually supporting lines of operation.
The farm products and activities will be a variety of pasture-raised meat and poultry, select vegetables, specialty annual and perennial plants, maple sap and firewood, and educational and community programming. The O'Donnell Family Company has leased the farm since August, and activities are well underway.
The Bunker Farm will collaborate with existing farm stands (in particular, Walker Farm on Route 5) to fill gaps in their product lines and increase overall sale of locally grown products.
Restaurants in Brattleboro and Putney, and the Putney Co-op, will also purchase products from the farm. The plant and design business will rely heavily on existing customers and gardeners who are interested in ordering custom-grown plants. The sugarbush is now in use and plans are in place to launch a small-scale firewood program.
Finally, local schools and community members will have the opportunity for farm visits and educational programming in an effort to build strong connections between the farm and local area.
The Bunker Farm project is one of many Farmland Access Projects completed by VLT with grant funding from VHCB, NRCS, and support from local communities.
These farmland conservation projects provide farmers with the unique opportunity to purchase a farm at its affordable, agricultural value. In addition to promoting the local food economy, these projects permanently protect farms that are at risk of development, match them with farmers who are ready to expand their operations or buy their first farm, and begin the formidable task of launching an agricultural enterprise.