LaValley Farms Field Rental Costs
This campaign was started to raise the money our farm needs to rent our farmland for our 2017 season.
***UPDATE: We have reached our goal for our farmland rent ($6500). We are still seeking funding to cover other springtime expenses (seeds, oil, etc). Any funds raised above our farmland rent will be used to help cover these upcoming expenses! We are hoping to be fully funded through our CSA program this year. If you are interested in a CSA share please find the link at the bottom!***
Chris and I have been farming for 11 seasons now. While farming is no walk in the park, last season was by far the hardest season we have ever endured. We had record drought conditions in NH all summer. This impacted our farm on so many levels. We suffered crippling crop loss, huge irrigation expenses, and increased labor expenses. The produce we were able to save was sub-par in taste and appearance due to bad growing conditions, resulting in lower retail sales. This brief description cannot even begin to fully tell how bad the season was for us
For a more in depth story about our farm this summer visit: https://www.facebook.com/notes/lavalley-farms/the-drought-what-you-havent-heard/1115311041840034
We ended our 2016 season barely making it through. Both Chris and I have worked full time all winter in an effort to cover our bills personally, but also the farm bills that we have during the winter. Typically, we are able to take our income from our farm; that is, after all, why we do this. But this past season, we had no income from it. In short, we worked extra hard all summer to make no money, and to have no money to start our 2017 season.
The funds for this campaign will be used to pay our rent for our farm fields. We rent all of our fields and rent is due in January. Unfortunately we were unable to make this payment and they graciously have postponed for a month. We are reaching out now because without our fields we will have no place to farm. If we cannot rent our fields, we will not be able to grow anything this season. Now this doesn’t mean we won’t open our farmstand. but it does mean we won’t have any of our own produce available.
We didn’t start our farm thinking it would be easy. We have worked hard, and continue to put in the hours and effort required to sustain our farm every season. 2016 was no different, the effort and hours were put in. We could do no more to help with last year. So now we humbly ask for your support for 2017 through a donation to help us pay rent for our farm fields. We pledge to continue to work our butts off, to do all we can, and we sincerely appreciate your help.
**For those of you who would like to help, please note we do offer a CSA program. The funds from this program are used to help us with these early season costs. We would love to be able to fully fund our expenses through this program (where our customers benefit too) Check it out here:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/lavalley-farms/2017-csa-program-local-loyalty-program/1184919644879173
