S. Woodstock group to buy buffalo farm
Residents say no to lamb slaughterhouse
Toolbox
BY GREGORY TROTTER Valley News Staff Writer - Published: November 18, 2009
WOODSTOCK — Rest easy, lambs and citizens of South Woodstock. There will be no slaughterhouse on Church Hill Road. Over the weekend, Frank Abballe, owner of Bufala Di Vermont, a water buffalo farm going out of business, agreed to sell the property to a group of Woodstock residents who united to buy the farm. Their motivation was two-fold — to stop Abballe's plan of converting the farm into a lamb slaughterhouse, and to found the Kedron Valley Dairy farm on the hilltop property instead.
"It's really a tribute to the people of Woodstock," said Vince Galluccio, a South Woodstock resident and self-titled "coordinator of information" for the buying effort.
"This is really the story of a community coming together." Standing behind the checkout counter of the South Woodstock Country Store yesterday, owner and shopkeeper Dan Noble said the slaughterhouse proposal and ensuing opposition had prompted much discussion among his patrons.
"There were many people who were dead-set against it," Noble said. "And of course, there were some local farmers who were all for it." He described himself as "fairly neutral" on the topic but said he felt the dairy farm was the better option of the two.
Beth Mantello was one of the South Woodstock residents adamantly opposed to the slaughterhouse. It would have been too large and industrial for the community, she said. "South Woodstock is very small and quaint," Mantello said. "People have worked very hard to keep it that way."
Abballe and Galluccio refused to disclose the final selling price for the 18.5 acre property, saying the details of the agreement were confidential until its April closing.
The Canadian businessman originally asked $1.55 million for the property. By late October, Galluccio and his companions had raised about $605,000 toward the price.
The total assessed value of the farm, including land and buildings, is about $1.6 million, according to the Woodstock Town Clerk's Office. Abballe's original plan was to ship the water buffalo back to Quebec and convert his farm into an abattoir for lambs — most of them from out-of-state — for the Boston and New York markets. The milking area would have been the kill room; the creamery would be the cutting room and home to the kabob machine.
Opposition mounted against the slaughterhouse, citing concerns about environmental impact and lack of local benefit for nearby dairy farmers.
Abballe defended his plan by saying up to 40 percent of the 30,000 animals slaughtered could be from Vermont and that he would follow the state's environmental regulation for slaughterhouses.
A group of about 15 Woodstock investors came forward to raise the money to buy the farm, Galluccio said.
As a result, there will be Kedron Valley Dairy — envisioned to be a sustainable farm with a dairy, creamery and educational facility. The farm would have 135 cows and about 50 percent of their milk would go to the creamery for cheese-making, Galluccio said. The rest would be processed and sold locally.
Each component — dairy, creamery and education center — would be separate and self-sustaining, he said.
Dairies losing money
Starting this week, investors will be organizing a nonprofit corporation to run the educational component that would be responsible for and benefit from the cheese-making classes.
"This is a very unique prototype, which is exciting given the dire situation of Vermont dairy farming," said Kelly Loftus, spokeswoman for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.
Ten dairy farms closed in the past week, Loftus said, reducing the state's total to 1,025. As of Jan. 5, there were 1,078.
Farmers are struggling for economic survival, she said. Despite spending about $1.80 to produce a gallon of milk, farmers are receiving only $1.10 in return, resulting in an annual loss of $100,000, or about $120 per cow for the average size Vermont dairy farm of 130 cows. The Kedron Valley model shows promise, though, she said. "Diversified agriculture helps the bottom line. Artisan cheese, agritourism — there are options to help make a farm more viable," Loftus said.
The farm's planners and investors will be working over the winter to develop the business model, seek funding and build community partnerships, Galluccio said. He hopes to launch the farm in late spring 2010.
For funding, Galluccio said they would be "exploring all avenues." One possibility is borrowing money from the Vermont Economic Development Authority. Under different ownership in 2002 and 2003, the water buffalo farm borrowed about $1.25 million from VEDA.
Those loans were repaid in March 2008, said Jo Bradley, VEDA chief executive officer. Currently, the agency has about $38 million in loans with Vermont dairy farms.
Galluccio met with VEDA officials last month for a "preliminary meeting" but no loan applications have yet been filed, he said.
For now, they plan to enjoy their success, he said, adding "it's been a tough couple of months."
When reached by phone yesterday, Abballe was driving north in Canada with 55 water buffalos. The remaining 47 will be transported on Thursday morning, he said.
He remains interested in starting a slaughterhouse in Vermont and is currently discussing the possibility of a 740-acre farm in Middlebury.
His planned combination of an abattoir and a feed lot would turn a profit, reduce stress in the animals and meet a need for more slaughterhouses in Vermont, he said.
Abballe described the community backlash to his slaughterhouse as "disappointing" but he has moved on.
"If anyone out there has a good facility, tell them to call me — as long as it's not in South Woodstock," he said, laughing softly.
28