Just off the Mohawk Trail on Route 2, Hager's Farm Market is located in Shelburne, Mass. Stretched across 650 acres of picturesque New England landscape, the property boasts an impressive 13,000 maple taps, 160 milking cows, hardy, Hereford hogs and cattle and a well-established orchard of apples and peaches. Locals and out-of-staters come to Hager's to experience the fresh, home-grown taste of New England. Although dairy products, smoked bacon, sausage, and home-baked goods, breads and pies are among their customer's favorites, Hager's true niche is their specialty maple products. Offering traditional maple items like maple syrups, creams and candies, Hager's also adds a sweet twist with their maple-coated almonds and peanuts, maple brittle, granulated maple sugar, and a spicy maple dip. Seasonal best-sellers include Hager's maple soft-serve ice cream, available during sugaring season in the early spring, and their maple raspberry shake, available during the hot summer days. Not to be forgotten: ample harvests of native fruits and vegetables and, come November, farm-raised Thanksgiving turkeys.  
Hager's Farm Market is the culmination of five generations of tradition, toil and love. Like many of their industry counterparts, Hager's attracts a following of individuals who not only believe supporting local businesses and sustaining the land is a good thing, but also share a strong sentiment for surviving and thriving family farms in New England. Being one such individual, I was inclined to learn more about the Hager family history. Recently, I had the opportunity to  speak with Kim Stevens, part of the Hager family's fourth generation, about the who's-who of the Hager family heritage, evolution of their farm, and what it’s like to be a farmer in New England today.

The Hagers: Yesterday and Today…

According to Kim, the property traces back to the 17th century when the Merrifield family obtained a grant to develop the land. Kim's great-grandfather, Leon Hager, married Sarah Merrifield ,who died from  complications during early pregnancy before she could have any children.  Leon stayed close with the Merrifields, married his second wife, Alice Bardwell,  and built a home adjacent to the Merrifields on a portion of property that they had given him. Together, Leon and Alice raised two children, Albert and Sanford. Throughout the years, in addition to dairy farming, the Hagers developed and maintained a large amount of sugar taps and operated a small sugar house on nearby land.  Eventually the sugar house needed to be expanded and was relocated to the main homestead. The original wall from the Hagers' first sugar house still stands today and is engraved with young Albert's initials and those of his future wife, Edith Bernett's--it reads: AH + EB. During the 1940s, Albert and Sanford bought the Merrifield estate and slowly began purchasing the surrounding land. The brothers continued sugaring and dairy farming on their own until 1979, when  Albert's son, Chip, returned home from college. Chip worked the farm and married his high school sweetheart, Sherry Wiles, with whom he raised six children. In 1987, Chip expanded the dairy, increasing the milking capacity from 54 to 76 cows.

Throughout the years, maple productivity steadily increased and by 2001 they had 13,000 sugar taps. 2003 brought the innovation of youth as Chip’s daughter Kim and future husband, Aaron Stevens, collaborated to bring Hager’s farm to a new level. A free-stall barn and a milking parlor were added and Hager’s began wholesaling their maple products to local stores. In 2007, Hager’s partnered with four farms in Massachusetts--Barway Farm in Deerfield, Barstows Dairy in Hadley, Jordan Dairy in Rutland and Woodgers Dairy in Granville-along with an investor to form the AGreen Energy LLC. Currently this project is coming to fruition as methane digestors are being placed on each farm to create their own energy and other green byproducts.  In 2008, Aaron moved his herd of cows and heifers from the family farm in Westmore, Vermont to Massachusetts. This more than doubled Hager’s milking capacity from 76 cows to 160.  However, low profit margins and fluctuating milks prices had the Hager’s  exploring better ways to capitalize on their farming, maple products and Hereford beef sales.  In 2009, the Hagers seized an opportunity to purchase Mohawk Orchards, the apple orchard where Kim’s mother, Sherry, grew up and where Chip worked as a kid.The orchard contained a farm stand that was in a prime location for retail and in June of that year they opened Hager’s Farm Market.  The market took off as sales increased and in 2010 they were already adding a much-needed addition. They began revamping the abandoned orchard, planting more trees and ripping out some of the old non-productive ones. This spring 500 more trees and raspberries will be planted to enhance their current offering of fruit and vegetables.


A family affair…

Currently, Hager’s Farm is owned, operated, and managed by Chip and Sherry Hager and Aaron and Kim Stevens. Kim’s brother Todd specializes in equipment repair and field work, Aaron tends to the dairy and cows, and sister Stacy Barron jumps in when and wherever needed and is currently working on developing a new catering venue for the market. Brother-in-law Mathew Barron works the dairy, crops, sugaring, and orchards while Kim’s mom, Sherry, is the underlying success of Hager’s baked goods, lunches, and creative draw to the market. Additionally, at the dairy, Hager’s employs seven full-time employees and one who works part time, while at the market they employ three full-time workers and seven who work part time. Starting this fall, Hager’s will be participating with the local high school in a work study program for students interested in learning about dairy farming and sugaring. Though they run on the lean side, the Hager's maintain a productive and intimate crew who have plenty of entertaining stories to share--mostly revolving around  getting covered in manure or falling face-first in snowshoes, unable to get back up. Kim relayed an incident where her sister was standing a little too close to a cow who was coughing at the same time it was...doing something else cows do frequently, leading to some pretty messy results!

Stewards of the land…

A typical day on the farm starts at 6 a.m. with milking cows, picking vegetables, and making bread. The herds are fed and tended to, equipment is maintained, and depending on the season,  sap is boiled and crops are planted or harvested. Most days end around 6:30 p.m. Care of the cows is a continual job that must be done every day regardless of weather or other duties and obligations. Cows are milked three times per day with the last milking at 10:30 p.m.

According to Kim, weather and soil conditions are the key elements for a successful crop. Weather determines when a crop can be planted as well as protein and sugar contents and digestibility values. Proper soil testing and management are also crucial. Crops need to be  efficiently and effectively harvested. You could have the best crop of grass growing but if you don’t know how to harvest it with regard to moisture content and storage, things can go real bad, real fast.

The Hagers are fortunate to be able to grass/pasture feed their Hereford beef herd. Not only is this great for the cattle, but it also helps decrease methane emissions. Hager’s would love to be able to pasture feed their milking cows, but building and field location are not ideal at this time.

With all the hype about manure  vs. synthetic fertilizers, Hager’s believes they both have a  place on the working farm. Although it would be ideal to use cow manure all the time, it is not always the right application. For example, Hager’s has some fields that are made inaccessible to their large manure spreaders by mud and side hills. They also had situations where the manure was not high enough in potassium,  causing the grass fields to become deficient and creating a low yield of grass and premature browning of the tips.  After evaluating the soil there, they spread pot ash for a few years to boost  K levels in the soil. This would not have been possible had they been using straight manure.



Plans for tomorrow…

Hager’s is in the early stages of planning to get their own milk processed and an ice cream mix patented for retail in their market. There is also a large vacant building that came with the orchard property that they would like to see converted into reception hall and winery to complement the orchard and catering business.

Kim concludes by saying, "I think the most rewarding thing about working on the farm or in the market is knowing that I am working hard to sustain land, animals and an ideal that has been passed down from generations of my family. I love to be able to work with my family while continually striving to make our business better and better so that my child and nieces and nephews will have the same opportunity in the future."

Written By : Jessica Layne

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