Chestnut Farms

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The History Of Chestnut Farms

Chestnut Farms is a family owned and operated livestock farm that is the result of a dream, the passion of the owners and the support of our community. Kim and Rich are native New Englanders who love cows, pigs, goats and even chickens and turkeys! They strongly believe that traditional farming methods, including pasture based grazing, lots of fresh air and sunshine are best suited to raising healthy, happy livestock. They are also acutely aware of the strength in a herd and are blessed with a wonderful community.

For most of their lives, both Kim and Rich dreamed of being farmers but neither was fortunate enough to inherit a family farm. In 1997, Kim and her two daughters purchased an old dairy farm that had fallen on difficult times. She and Rich met and married shortly thereafter and together, with their children, worked to reclaim the land and build their foundation herds of livestock. Tires and metal were hauled out by the ton; rocks were picked from the fields and pastures were seeded. Cattle were bought and bred, pigs and goats and chickens all arrived.

By 2004 Chestnut Farms was extreme family homesteading at its finest! In 2006, Kim was diagnosed with breast cancer and thought if not now, when? It was clearly time to leave education and follow the dream. With wonderful business planning support from the State of MA, Department of Food and Agriculture Rich and Kim worked diligently to create a strong business plan. It quickly became clear that their passion for humane and healthy livestock were a driving force behind the farm.

Building relationships and supporting each other is critical to our mission. When our colleagues have happy, healthy, vibrant farms we are all better off. Once a field is harrowed and houses are planted; it is never harrowed again. We want to see fields harrowed and planted in perpetuity in MA. We are committed to the success of the Massachusetts Agricultural Community and are blessed to be a part of it.

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