Boneyard Farm-Vermont

Hannah and John Doyle are the owners and operators of Boneyard Farm in Cambridge, Vermont. They specialize in pastured meat, eggs, and produce. Hannah Doyle, the primary farm operator, has a long history of working on New England farms. She grew up on a farmstead in central Vermont and knew from an early age she wanted to keep farming. John Doyle assists with management while also operating a fencing construction business.

The farm has grown steadily, starting as a small homestead with both Hannah and John working full-time off-farm and expanding to the 180-acre former conventional dairy they moved to in 2020, where they plan to keep growing and stewarding the property into the future.

“It feels great to have the support of agricultural organizations as we expand and settle into our new farm. We are increasing production in almost every endeavor,” said Hannah Doyle. “There is lots to do and a huge amount of infrastructure to build/source/install, so having our chicken processing dialed in and ready to go for this coming growing season feels like one thing checked off the list.”

In the past, they struggled to meet demand for their locally produced poultry and pork, but with their new property and funds from AFT’s New England Farmer Microgrants Program, they built a mobile poultry processing unit that will allow them to increase production by 150%. The processing unit is on a 10’ trailer, allowing them the flexibility to move between fields and process their chickens quickly and humanely.

The New England Farmer Microgrants Program, launched by American Farmland Trust in 2020, provides farmers with cash grants to expand their farm production, address access to land, and create farm succession plans. Hannah and John plan to keep expanding their poultry operation, providing their local community with fresh, sustainable meat products. They are also raising their two children on the farm, hoping they will someday follow in their footsteps.