Our Tenth Harvest
Celebrating a decade of growth and impact
Iroquois Valley Farms completed its tenth season in 2016. There were eight new families (see below) joining our farmland ranks, representing new locations such as Vermont, Iowa, Minnesota and Montana. The initiation of mortgage financing helped diversify our business to new markets, free up capital for growth and improve cash flow for our farmers. Looking forward, the company will continue expanding and diversifying its business by geographic region, product, and farmer.

While information is still being gathered on the 2016 harvest, it is clear that most farmers struggle to be profitable during the beginning years. This year, parts of the Midwest experienced some extreme weather, including some drought conditions in Michigan - making the 2016 harvest even more difficult. To combat theses challenges and especially those that our young farmers face, we have been working to procure more financial assistance and were recently awarded a $944,715 NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant. The new grant will mostly take effect in 2017 and help lower the lease/mortgage costs of a transition and support more training and education.

Part of the grant will support the creation of our soon-to-be-issued "Soil Restoration Notes", an innovative new offering. Initially, these notes will be limited to accredited investors, but later expanded within a non-accredited offering. Funds raised with the new three year note will directly impact the economics of transitioning to organic production. Our recent transition to a REIT (real estate investment trust) allows us to expand our business and accelerate future growth by enabling our forthcoming non-accredited offering. 

Local Farms Fund
HoneyMade Farm - Columbia County, NY
The Williams Family

The Williams Family
Pastured dairy cows







Vilicus Farms - Hill County, MT
The Jones-Crabtree Family
The Jones-Crabtree Family (photo credits to Vilicus Farms)
Black beluga lentils







Strafford Community Farm - Orange County, VT
The Miller-Varley Family

The Miller-Varley Family


Strafford Community Farm 







Yker Acres - Carlton County, MN
The Weik Family

The Weik Family
Yker Acres pasture for heritage breed hogs - Carlton, MN







Susquehanna Farm - Chenango County, NY
The Zehr Family
The Zehr Family
Pastured dairy cows







Mint Creek Farm - Ford County, IL
The Carr Family
Harry Carr on pasture
Mint Creek sheep







Fair Acres Farm - Marion County, IA
The Petersen Family
The Petersen Family
Sheep on pasture







These farm families (and one not pictured) collectively grow organic specialty grains, edible beans, produce, raise livestock and dairy cows on pasture. The food these farmers raise is marketed to people - essentially, this is the food in grocery stores and in restaurants. These organic farmers (and many more) are working to regenerate agriculture and scale the change to a more healthy food system. 

We were recently featured in a US News and World Report article highlighting ways people are investing in farmland. 
 
Acreage as of October 2016

Connecting farm families, communities, and investors since 2007. 
 
As a corporate guideline,  we do not look for specific farmland to purchase or finance. We develop relationships with farmers, mostly young and organic, that want to grow their farm business. We move forward if we have a ready, willing and able farmer in hand. 

For more information please visit  our website .
 Connect with corporate staff a t info@iroquoisvalleyfarms.com
 
Iroquois Valley Farms, LLC | (847) 859-6645 | info@iroquoisvalleyfarms.com |  iroquoisvalleyfarms.com
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