Weathertop: Farmer Opportunity in Richmond

100 acres

Property Owner:

Farmer or farm family

Contact Name:

Jill Merkel

Property Location:

Richmond, VT
View Location on Google Maps • View Soil Info on VT Natural Resources Atlas • View Atlas Tutorial

The Land

Total number of acres available with this property:

100.0

Total acres available for agriculture:

90.0

Acres of forested land:

80.0

Acres of cropland or tillable land:

2.0

Acres of pasture:

15.0

Quality of land:

The farm is situated at the top of a ridge. Most of the property is steep and forested. We have cleared sheep pasture and horse paddock on the flatter parts of it, and we lease pasture from a neighbor. With the exception of our neighbor’s pasture, the property is very sandy. We are able to keep good grass by composting our hay and horse manure into cover, and we use a mixture of silvopasture and rotation for our sheep. There is a sizable house garden and several fruit trees. We have a dug well and an old spring well. The forest is a mix of hardwood and pine. The previous owners did some sugaring, but there are only a few maples left. There are nut trees and oak, as well as beech and poplar. The pine is white pine, red pine, and tamarack with a few stands of cedar. There are recreational mountain bike and hiking trails that border the property and it would make a good agri/eco-tourism location.

Farm Information

Water sources present:

Available

Water sources details:

Drilled deep well, disused dug wells(2) and springs.

Barns and sheds:

Available

Farmer housing:

Available

Farmer housing details:

The house is a 3 story hillside house - 7 bedrooms and 4&1/2 bathrooms. One bedroom is used as office space, and 3 others are for rent. Our family uses the other 3 bedrooms and 2 of the bathrooms. Two of the rental rooms are listed on Airbnb.

Equipment and machinery:

Available

Equipment and machinery details:

L series Kubota tractor

Farm infrastructure details:

Main barn (near the house) is a combination sheep and horse barn with a hayloft. 2 of the 4 used sheep pastures have 3 sided wooden sheds. The other two have temporary shelters with plans to build a combination cabin/sheep house in the uppermost pasture. There is also a small lambing shed attached to the house and a feed storage/tack room.

Tenure Arrangement

Tenure arrangement:

Property for rent

Other

Additional Information

We would like to find a farmer or farm family who is interested in living with us in our extended household while we slowly make a transition to selling the farm and property. We are looking for someone who is interested in continuing and/or expanding our Icelandic Sheep Farm which includes milking and raw milk business, as well as wool, meat, pelts, and horn sales and the breeding and selling of registered breeding stock. We are also interested in utilizing the recreational resources nearby and adjacent to our property to add more agri-tourism opportunities to the property. There is also an opportunity for organic herb and mushroom gardening, as well as adding more fruit trees.

We also breed and keep Icelandic Chickens and Muscovy Ducks for eggs and meat. They have a permanent chicken house in back of the house near the barn.

Currently, we are members of WWOOFusa, Workaway, and HelpX, and we have year-round volunteer help through those organizations.