Bree-Z Knoll Farm got its start in 1968 when Warren and Sandy Facey bought two cows for their three children as part of a 4-H project. Today the Leyden farm milks 120 cows on 650 acres, and is operated by their son, Randy, and his wife Angie. Bree-Z Knoll uses rotational grazing in the spring, summer and fall and grows their own feed for the winter.
Angie applied for two FSIG grants – one for Bree-Z Knoll and one for Our Family Farms, a Western Massachusetts milk marketing coop that Bree-Z Knoll helped found. The grants were “life changing for our family and farm,” says Angie, who appreciates that the program dedicated money to farmers that do not have other sources of financing for these types of large scale projects.
The farm and coop are combining their grants of $873,000 total to build a processing and bottling plant at Bree-Z-Knoll. The Bree-Z Knoll grant will pay for the bulk of the processing equipment, the building itself, plumbing, and more. The Our Family Farms grant will pay for the milk filler equipment, labeler, case washer, cooler, and other equipment in the plant. Our Family Farms is planning to hire two workers for the plant and one to work at the coop, jobs that would not have existed otherwise without FSIG.
Angie stressed the unprecedented nature of building a dairy plant without incurring debt. The plant will increase revenue opportunities as well, by providing them with many more options for their milk. They will now have the capability to make soft cheese, drinkable yogurt, cream, flavored milk, quarts, half quarts, and pints, when previously they had been limited to gallons and half gallons of fluid milk. A local creamery wants to use their cream to make ice cream, and Angie would eventually like to make mozzarella as well.
