Vendor Spotlight – Allstad Farms

The 100 acre Allstad Farm is owned and operated by Chad Allaire and Liv Skorstad of Hardwick. Chad has been in and out of farming his whole life. He and Liv have been in business about 12 years. With the drive to feed local people good beef at reasonable prices, they got a grant from the state to make water and drainage improvements to the farm along with constructing a new super structure to house the animals. “Right now we are trying to feed the people reasonably and wherever that takes us is where we want to be,” says Chad.

According to Chad, knowledge of animals is key for everybody. “Know what you’re eating. Know the history behind it. Don’t get caught in the whole grass-fed thing. Animals in VT aren’t always getting what they need to be healthy.” “People don’t always know what grass-fed beef tastes like,” says Chad. “Is your beef grass-fed or healthy-fed?” Allstad Farm animals are on a nutrient management program consisting of grass, grain and minerals to gain weight. They feed dairy cow feed (yes there is a difference between dairy cows and beef cows) to their beef cows because of the nutrition content.

Currently, Allstad Farm produces beef along with feed for other small hobby farmers. Chad and Liv handle all the beef production themselves and sometimes hire out for haying. Chad believes the connection has been lost between the farmer, their product and the consumer. He believes every family should get out and see the farm. “People should know where their food comes from.”

“I think every family should get out to a farm and see it. I strongly believe in that. People that don’t know where their food comes from are used to buying it in a box with a table of contents on the back, they really should get out and connect. They need that connection,” says Chad.

Liv is working on a new website for the farm and hopes it will be available soon. Their Instagram and Facebook accounts are also in the works. “All our effort has been taking care of the animals. We haven’t had time to sit in front of the computer. Come on up and walk the farm!”

Allstad Farm delivers to MOCO every Friday!