FarmStart - Taylor Acquaviva

Taylor Acquaviva is Yankee’s most recent FarmStart investment. Taylor will be using the funds to purchase a vat pasteurizer and start his own cheese making operation, Livewater Dairy, which will focus on providing organic, grass fed dairy products, specializing in fresh mozzarella and also producing butter and other value added products. Taylor’s family previously made mozzarella cheese on the farm years ago, which enables him to have access to a state-approved processing facility that is conveniently located 20 yards from the milk house.

Livewater Dairy is located in Putney, VT. Taylor plans on utilizing his family’s existing farm stand to help promote his products, as well as attending numerous farmers markets and building relationships with restaurants and co-ops across southern Vermont.

Taylor is pictured below standing in front of greenhouses that he also owns and grows veggies in:

Taylor is excited to begin his new venture and has a great support system that will enable him to be successful. His parents will be able to provide guidance with the processing and marketing aspects of the operation and Taylor also has a valuable connection with a Master Cheese maker in the area who is looking forward to acting as his mentor as he gets started.

Loan Officer Ryan Scelza worked with Taylor to make this FarmStart investment. As Ryan is regretfully leaving Yankee Farm Credit, Loan Officer April Smith will be the continuing FarmStart advisor.

The goal of FarmStart is to provide working capital to help start-up farmers establish a positive business and credit history during the early phases of their business careers. Within five years recipients should be positioned to graduate to a conventional line of credit from Yankee or another lender.

To learn more about FarmStart please visit our website or contact your local office.

Agri-Women Conference at Miner

Please see the below for information about an upcoming conference for women in agriculture being held at Miner Institute March 27-28, 2015.

2014 Patronage Refund

Yankee Farm Credit had another good year in 2014. The Board of Directors has approved a patronage refund for 2014 of $4,641,000, which is 1.00% of average member loan volume. Although the patronage pool is not quite as large as the previous two years, the Board feels it is important to maintain a strong balance sheet for your Association.

Payment of the patronage refund is dependent on the satisfactory completion of the 2014 audit and the Association's receipt of its 2014 patronage refund from CoBank. We anticipate both of these will be completed in March. Members should expect their checks to be mailed around March 25th. Those who are signed up to receive their refund electronically should see it hit their accounts on March 27th. If you do not receive your payment please contact your local office or click here to e-mail us.

To all those who contributed to Yankee's success in 2014, thank you!

Dairy Stockmanship Workshops

Yankee recently helped sponsor workshops hosted by UVM Extension and Ben and Jerry's Caring Dairy Program. The workshops, held in Vermont and New York, focused on dairy stockmanship. Dairy stockmanship is low stress, safe, positive, efficient animal handling that improves the outcome for both the animal and people. The workshops were led by Don Höglund, DVM.

Across The Fence had an interesting interview with Dr. Höglund, Dr. Julie Smith of UVM Extension, and Rachel Gilker of Caring Dairy on 1/29/15 (15:09):

Dairy Stockmanship and Low-stress Handling

Arlington Hazen RIP

Arlington Hazen, known to all as Arl, passed away on January 28, 2015, at age 93. Click here for the obituary.

Arl was President of Champlain Valley Farm Credit* (and its predecessors) from 1973 to 1986. He began his Farm Credit career in 1955 in the Middlebury office of what was then the Farmers Production Credit Association of Burlington.

The memorial service was today in the United Methodist Church in Shelburne. Rev. Gregory Smith officiated, and he told about how he discovered that he had a connection to Arl that he hadn’t known about:

Click here for Rev. Gregory Smith’s comments pertaining to Farm Credit

I spoke about Arl’s legacy at Farm Credit:

Click here for my comments

Several current and former employees attended the memorial service, as well as Paul Eddy, former Chairman of the Board.

The memorial service included family remembrances, Masonic rites, and military honors.

Arl lived a rich, full life and he will be missed by family, friends and colleagues.

*Champlain Valley Farm Credit was one of the two associations that merged on January 1, 1995 to form Yankee Farm Credit. The other association was Farm Credit of the Connecticut Valley.