Owners of Humble Heart Farms Leslie and Paul Spell decided to give their 20-acre farm away via an essay contest when they noticed that most interested potential buyers were running into the major barriers that FarmLink has also identified:
1) Finances. You may not have money to purchase a dairy outright. Banks are not lending easily and if you get a loan you have a large debt. Plus you need help with day-to-day operating expenses.
2) Opportunity. How often does one come across 20-acres, a home, a goat herd, a complete equipment, an established market, training, and no mortgage? Finding good land to begin your farm business on is hard enough!
Details: The Spells are asking each entrant to pay a $150 submission fee, and said they hope to get 2,500 entries in all, which would total $375,000. Revenue from these fees will be used to pay off the rest of the farm's mortgage, while the remaining $20,000 will be given to the contest winner to jump start operations. The winner’s name will be announced October 15th.
Take a moment and jot down why you or your organization is the perfect fit to continue the farmstead goat cheese tradition. Contest rules and regulations can be found here.
Those interested can submit an essay through the contest website.
