Climbing Tree Farm

Colby and Schuyler Gail set out to grow food for their family. Always gardeners, through an unusual twist of fate, they fell into farming and have been enjoying life and their farming adventures since. Though they set out to raise food for their immediate family, in many ways, farming has encouraged them to engage with the community, and they now their family has grown to include many of their customers and farming partners.
At Climbing Tree Farm we keep our animals true to their instincts – letting our pigs root, our chickens range, our sheep and cows graze. We rotationally graze our animals on pasture and woodland. Our animals harvest a huge amount of food on their own – by grazing the natural landscape.  We work with local grass-fed dairies and cheese makers to feed our pigs whey, and milk. We are conscientious stewards of our land and our animals.
Location: New Lebanon, NY
Website: http://www.climbingtreefarm.com/
Top 3 Products: Heritage, milk-fed woodland/pasture raised pork, pasture raised poultry
How has the Profit Team Program helped your farm?: The Profit Team Program has put us in touch with several organizations- land-match programs, extension agents, a lawyer, etc. Being part of the Profit Team has helped us to come up with business goals and meet them. We have done financial assessments, taken a business class, consulted with a new vet (which changed the way we vaccinate our herd and the frequency of testing), met with a swine specialist, put our business in an LLC, and talked with dozens of landowners about procuring more farm land.
When you envision your farm business five years from now, what differences do you see?: In five years we will have more land, more financial security, and a weekly day off.
If you weren’t a farmer, what would your dream job be?: Colby would be a field biologist. Schuyler would be a writer or a midwife. As farmers, we get to do lots of dream jobs all at once (plus some less than dreamy jobs).
What is your best piece of advice for an aspiring farmer?: Read a lot. Ask more experienced farmers questions. Watch your animals- do what makes them happy and healthy. Know when to break the “rules-” not all conventions make sense. Sometimes take a break to sit with your animals (or vegetables) just to enjoy them. You’ll never have all of the information, so just start farming, and know you’re going to fail often. You will learn most from your biggest disasters.

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Tara Hammonds

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