Agricultural Loan Program
Walking around her Washington farm, Jennifer Lambert pet the babies, including one 2-day-old cutie, the barn cats and her son. A few fields over, her other son and husband worked on machinery.
All in all an idyllic Vermont day.
In Lambert’s case, the farm wasn’t passed down by generations — she and her husband, Jesse, bought it in 2010. After studying at Vermont Technical College and the University of Vermont, then helping manage a dairy, Jennifer realized she wanted a place of her own.
Some homegrown owner-financing for the cows, and renting the farm, got the deal done. “At the time, I was in my early 20s, so none of the banks wanted to loan me money,” she said.
But, from the very beginning, the farm was diversified, with Jesse owning a custom cropping business.
After a couple years of farming, the couple purchased the whole farm with the help of VEDA and the Vermont Land Trust, which ensured the land will stay workable in the future.
Jennifer didn’t grow up on a dairy farm and didn’t start milking cows until her teens, but said she always looked up to those who did, maybe envying a tiny bit. Having forged her own path, she is curious to see what her boys — still young — will do when they grow up.
Just because this was her dream doesn’t mean it will be the kids’, she said.
“I want them to see what farming is, the fun parts and the kind of terrible parts,” she said. “I don’t want to scare them out of it, but I want to be realistic about it as well, so they know what they’re signing up for.”
Working with Andy Wood, their loan officer, has played a role in the Lamberts knowing what they’re getting into, too. He is transparent, asking questions about what they want the future to look like, how they might get there and helping keep them in a place where they can retire and be comfortable later in life.
While she joked about not feeling like a young farmer after so many years of hard work, at just 36 and 40, Jennifer and Jesse thoughtfully prioritize working today but thinking of tomorrow, keeping their finances in mind as they continue to grow the business.
The couple has added robotic milking to the farm, increasing production enough to allow them to build a new heifer barn. With new machinery comes a new potential for breakdowns, and having someone to rely on helps ease that stress.
“Other lenders, I think, are too concentrated on certain benchmarks,” Jennifer said. “Andy knows our business is so different from others and he doesn’t try to put us in this little box.”
Jennifer said she will sometimes call Andy just to check in and update him on the latest goings-on — he will ask what she’s thinking about and serve as both a resource and a cheerleader.
Having someone to ask the right questions makes a huge difference.
“If I can convince myself that something is the right move, and I can convince Andy, I feel so much more confident,” Jennifer said. “He’s super smart and he knows so much about the Vermont dairy industry and the dairy industry altogether; he’s always been really supportive and excited about what we’re doing.”
“Without VEDA, I think we’re stubborn enough we probably still would have been in business, but I don’t think I would have that warm, fuzzy feeling that I have towards my lenders.”
~ Jennifer Lambert
