Farmer Profile for Jake Kornfeld

Please describe your past and/or present farming experience

I currently manage the Farm at the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps in Richmond VT. We grow 13 acres of diversified organic vegetables as well as a flock of 100 layers and several feeder hogs each year. We also raise 1,000 broilers/ year that we process on site. Before VYCC I worked for Salvation Farms in their gleaning aggregation/ processing hub, and for several other farms including Maple Wind Farm, Cedar Circle Farm, and several diversified organic vegetable operations in Michigan and Montana.

Are you currently farming?

Yes

Are you interested in connecting with other farmers to explore collocation or collaborative farm ideas?

Yes

Counties being considered

Addison
Chittenden
Lamoille
Orange
Washington
Windsor

What is the primary agricultural enterprise you are considering?

Row Crops

What other enterprises are you considering?

Apple/Fruit
Beef
Grains
Greenhouse
Hay/Forage
Herbs
Hogs
Livestock
Maple Sugaring
Nursery
Pasture
Poultry
Row Crops
Vegetables
Woodlot

Total Acres Desired

200.0

Tillable Acres

20.0

Organic

Yes

Farmhouse Needed

Doesn't matter

Which of the following arrangements are you considering?

Lease with Option to Buy
Long-Term Lease
Standard Sale

Are you interested in conserved farms?

Yes

Do you have a business plan? Please write an informative description of your vision & goals for your farming future.

I have a draft business plan with 3 friends I plan to partner with in the formation of a Cooperative or multi-owner LLC. The plan was written to work for a particular parcel that we are no longer considering, but with minor tweaks I think we can make it workable anywhere. The short term plan is to grow garlic - likely 1/2 to 1 acre, raise laying hens, and get to work on an apple orchard in the first year. We see these enterprises as being low maintenance enough that we can continue to work our off-farm jobs until the farm has it's footing and we can reduce off farm hours and ideally be full time on the land in year 3 or 4. Longer term, the plan is to have a diversified operation where each person leads one or several enterprises that could stand independently but work cooperatively to share costs of marketing, distribution, infrastructure, etc. Likely we will try to run a small CSA to ground the farm in the local community, graze any available pasture for meat production, and grow several wholesale crops each year. We have seen the stress that farming as a sole-proprietor often puts on the farmer and are hoping we can set up a collaborative model that increases resilience and reduces pressure on any one individual. Ideally, our success will also create opportunities for other young people to have a viable, desirable future in Vermont agriculture as workers or co-owners of our farm. We will also be looking for opportunities to collaborate with other farmers to build a network that can take advantage of larger markets.