02/08/2023
It has been a wonderful life running this farm but it is time for me to find a successor. Willowbrook Farm is listed on the MiFarmLink.org for sale. If you know an up and coming farm family looking for their dream, share this post with them. Thank you and thank you for being an egg customer! Here is my blog:
Willowbrook Farm is going on the market due to my age and lack of family to help. This farm is registered with MDARD and currently has a clean room established in the house for eggs. The clientele for these eggs is between Laingsburg and Lansing and points in between. The business is growing beyond my capability to run it on my own. The expansion potential is there.
This farm was purchased as a piece of land in 1998, (31.33 acres) and has not seen a chemical since. The house and outbuildings were put on the land in 2003. It has been farmed since 2005. Certified organic vegetables for market and field crops were grown until 2018. The tillable land is currently leased to a certified organic dairy operation. The licensed clean room for eggs was built and licensed in 2018 and is currently licensed. Mineral rights go with the property. If you would like to see a farm bio, willowbrookfarmelsie on facebook...
There are two Quonset huts on this farm. One by the road, used as a farm shop is 40x50 and has a double barrel wood stove for heat. It is foam insulated. The second one is in line with the other buildings. It is set up for expansion and has plumbing in the floor to build a second processing facility. It is 30x40. There is electrical lines run to the pole barn and is ready to be wired in. Both buildings have hydrants and the 30x40 has a food grade hydrant in it.
The pole barn has a hydrant also and is currently being used as feed storage. It is divided with a large animal system set up for horses. It is 24x32 and was built in 1999.
There are three other hydrants along the water lines that are outdoors and ready to utilize for water tanks or vegetable irrigation. There is a USDA certified back flow preventer on the water lines to the outbuildings. There is a 30x72 hoop house that needs to be reset due to wind damage. There is another hoop house currently being built in a fenced area for poultry. The fenced area is directly behind the house and is about 1/3 of an acre with no climb fence. There is a run-in shed with a frost free richey drinker for large animals, currently being used by a horse. It is 12x24. There is 4.5 acres fenced for large animals. There is a 12x12 garden shed on cement behind the house...
The house is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath boca modular, one bath in master bedroom, on a modular 8’ daylight basement. It has hardwood flooring and an oak stairway to the basement; Lots of windows. It is hooked to a propane tank but there is a wood stove in the basement and a ceiling fan in the dining room to draw the heat upstairs. It has a boiler system for hot water and heat (if you prefer propane). The boiler is a hot water convection heat system and can be hooked to an outdoor wood boiler. There is a new water conditioner and a reverse osmosis system under the kitchen sink. The basement is drywalled.
The septic system is a mound system but is gravity fed. There is a sump crock in the basement that can supply ground water for all the animals, (if the power goes out for a couple of days).
There is still a lot of clean-up to do here, trees, grass, etc., but the egg business is keeping me pretty busy. I am willing to mentor the new owners into a smooth transition. The chickens are kept in semi trailers and it helps keep predators off and provides shade. The business is also for sale and is included in the price. If interested, contact Mary Borroum for an appointment. [email protected] or 989-224-4972 for a tour. We can negotiate from there.
