Heifer Farm | Rutland, Massachusetts
It’s probably inside baseball meaningful mostly to the Heifer International crowd, but the nonprofit, based in Little Rock, is looking to sell its 270-acre Heifer Farm in Rutland, Massachusetts, 61 miles west of Boston.
The property is an educational tool for Heifer, exposing visitors to agricultural life and educating them about the nonprofit’s mission: ending hunger and poverty by helping small-scale farmers develop sustainable livelihoods.
Bill Foreman, Heifer’s public relations director, said the decision to sell was made earlier this month by its board of trustees and that Heifer was looking to close Heifer Farm by June 30 and hoping to have it sold by the end of 2018.
The property originally was a holding farm for livestock shipped overseas, something Heifer no longer does, preferring to buy local animals for the farmers it assists. The farm then “shifted focus to educating visitors about Heifer’s mission to end hunger and poverty,” Foreman said.
“The closure is basically about the shifting of our focus,” he said. “The farm was part of Heifer USA, and Heifer USA’s focus has really been shifting more toward helping farmers” in this part of the country, he said, citing in particular Heifer’s two cooperatives, Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative and New South Produce Cooperative.
The Heifer Farm in Rutland has nine employees, Foreman said. They’ll be part of a transition team to wind down the farm operations, he said, and some will be given the opportunity to work at the 1,200-acre Heifer Ranch in Perryville, which remains a popular destination for those seeking to learn about sustainable agriculture.
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