Agricultural Loan program
When they married in 1996, Chantale and Aaron Nadeau had no idea they would come to create an innovative, self-sustaining farm in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.
They met at McGill University in Montreal, Chantale learning about human nutrition and Aaron about agriculture. Their first farm, in Derby, was home to about 60-70 Holstein cows on rented land.
Eventually they began looking for a larger farm and in 2005 bought the one operated by Aaron’s parents.
Years later, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presented itself — to buy the adjacent acreage that Aaron’s grandfather had owned decades prior.
Other lenders weren’t sold on supporting another large-scale purchase to expand in this way.
Then, the name Andy Wood came up, a VEDA loan officer. The couple went to him with their proposal and he said, Chantale recalled, “‘I think it’s a great opportunity.’”
Noting it still makes her a bit choked up, Chantale said it felt incredible, knowing that he understood the big picture — it wasn’t just a land purchase, it was part of the long-term business planning process.
The sale happened in 2016, and, as a result of the expanded resources, the Nadeaus have been able to self-sustain their 140 cows in a new way.
“We were able to stop purchasing forage pretty much that year, because we were able to harvest enough forage for the animals from the land base we had; it really put everything in balance for us,” Chantale said.
Aaron’s guiding principles center around efficiency and the idea of self-sustaining; by not relying on an outside source for feed allows the couple to control their own production; they can make one deliberate, large purchase annually to produce the amount of corn needed to feed the cows, for example.
This model empowers the Nadeaus to be stewards of the land, a role they are proud to hold.
“The whole farm has its own ecosystem and that’s why having these two parcels back together with contiguous acres is just really meaningful.”
~ Chantale Nadeau
Derby, VT 05829
