Mace Chasm Farm

At Mace Chasm Farm we raise livestock, do our best to care for our environment, & also do the butchery  here on the farm. Our beef and sheep are grass-fed, and our pigs, chickens & turkeys forage on pasture and eat grains and whey, which makes for excellent meat and eggs. All of the animals are rotationally grazed. A variety of fresh & smoked cuts are prepared and fresh sausages & sandwich meats  are made each week for market using fresh herbs from our fields and 100% organic spices.
Location: Keeseville, NY
Website: http://www.macechasmfarm.com/home/
Top 3 Products: Beef, Lamb, Pork, & Poultry production. We do our added value work in a 20C on the farm, direct marketing cuts & sausages. We also feature our meats in a farm food truck.
How has the Profit Team Program helped your farm?: It hasn’t yet!

When you envision your farm business five years from now, what differences do you see?: 
Some year-round job opportunities offered here, Some time off for myself and my partner during the year, Fully separate employee housing, The addition of cured meats to our line of added value products has added pleasant & profitable winter work for us and has found a strong market, A part time or full time partner helping to manage the Butcher Shop, Bigger herds, Permanent fencing is built, A functional permanent lane-way to our sorting systems is working, Winter shelter for our sheep and pigs has adjoining functional composting sites to conveniently muck out to & manage. Drainage issues in Spelt Field have been addressed, and the field is becoming more productive. Our truck is reliable and well-maintained. We have paid down much of our debt and have a good system with a line of credit for spring deposits, etc. The fresh herbs that we use in our sausages are grown here on the farm, and our hedge rows and riparian areas have been planted to fruit trees.
Our Butcher Shop on the farm has become a popular destination for folks visiting the area and locals alike to stock up on good meats, and thus we are able to drop a farmers market that we’d rather not attend from our schedule. We have tightened up our egg production systems. We have begun to track soil health. We are keeping pace with the grazing land we are managing. We are very much in tune w/ our hay suppliers. Our sheep genetics have improved and we are weaning nice sized lambs during our busy market season. We have a chill, well-trained shepherding dog to help us w/ the flock.
If you weren’t a farmer, what would your dream job be?: 
Farming encompasses most of my dream job criteria. If I weren’t farming I would be working as a union pipe fitter.
What is your best piece of advice for an aspiring farmer?: Work in other trades as part of farmer training – especially construction – because farm infrastructure demands all of that know-how, and the more you can do or at least diagnose yourself, the better off you’ll be with the small margins a farmer works with! It will also improve your versatility in problem solving in the systems you develop on your own farm.

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Tara Hammonds

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