FarmStart-Beyond the Bridge Organics, Abe Barnard and Jade Salvas

With Harvest season underway for many farm operation in the area, we found recent FarmStart investment recipient,  Beyond the Bridge Organics has been busy getting their hands dirty harvesting this years garlic as well.

Abe Barnard, and Jade Salvas starting Beyond the Bridge Organics to produce organic garlic as well as other seasonal vegetables for area sale . Their mission:

"Beyond The Bridge Organics seeks to provide our local community, as well as communities throughout New England and beyond the very best in organically grown garlic and passing on the health benefits garlic brings to everyone."                                Beyond the Bridge Organics, www.organicmarketvt.com 

With their main focus on their garlic crop, they are able to cultivate and refine their product for a more unique market. With an investment from the FarmStart program assisting with seed and tool purchases, and their strong dedication to their business, it looks like this season's harvest is a success.



Photos credits facebook.com/beyondthebridgeorganics

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 careers. Within five years recipients should be able to graduate to a conventional line of credit from Yankee or another lender.

For more information contact your local branch or e-mail FarmStart@Yankeeaca.com.

2nd Quarter Financial Results

It's August - fair season in Vermont.  But it also means there are only four months left to 2017 - where has the year gone?

August is also when the second quarterly financial results for Yankee are published. We can announce that we have had another good quarter with $2.9 million in net income. This is sightly higher than 2016, due to higher net interest income and income from financially related services. These increases, however, were partially offset by continued higher expenses due to the investments we are making in our new information technology platform and enhanced risk management practices.

Quarter end loans held at June 30th were $479.4 million, down slightly from year-end. The portfolio continues to be concentrated in the dairy industry with 51.2 percent of loans invested in dairy businesses. Our second largest concentration is timber with 13.3 percent of loan volume. Maple comes in at number three, with 11.1 percent of the portfolio at quarter-end.

Credit quality across the portfolio remained strong during the quarter and well within the risk bearing capacity of the Association. At quarter-end 1.1 percent of the Association loans were classified as nonperforming - 0.1 percent improved from the end of 2016.

 Click here for the full quarterly Report to Shareholders.

Safety, On the Farm and in the Field

With the recent tragedies in the Vermont agricultural community, we are reminded that safety on the farm must be a priority for all individuals. Whether you are running machinery, working with animals in the barn or finishing products for retail, agricultural safety is a lesson you cannot afford to skip. We value our members and their teams and want to ensure that you are receiving and providing the best safety training our area has to offer. To help, we here at Yankee Farm Credit would like to reimburse the $90.00 registration cost of the Vermont Farm Safety Program for any member who attends.  To take advantage of this offer or if you are a New York or New Hampshire member and would like to participate in a more local training event and need information on fee reimbursement for approved programs, please contact us at info@yankeeaca.com or    1-800-639-3053.

We have put together just a few of the many online resources available to any individual looking for training, events and material on farm and agriculture safety.

New Hampshire Farm Bureau-For links to PTO Shields and ROPS Rebate Program

The National Education Center for Agricultural Safety

New York Department of Labor-Safety Reference Material

Bassett Healthcare Network-New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health

New York State Department of Health- Farm Safety, Children ages birth to 19 years.

VT Agency of AG Food and Markets-Farm Safety Program

UVM Extension-Farm Health and Safety

2017 National Farm Safety and Health Week is September 17th - 23rd.