Southdown Farm is a 53-acre farm operated by Sheryl & Seth Long and their daughter Hannah. The SOAR Farm Loan project is to build a commercial kitchen due to the success of Southdown Farm’s 2017 year. The farm sold all of their maple syrup at the Letcher County Farmer’s Market and had many more requests than they had product. The garden vegetables were sold at both Letcher County and Pike County Farmer’s Markets. The farm became certified Home-Based Processors and Home-Based Micro-Processors. They also constructed a sugar shack to process the syrup. Hannah Long has been asked to sell her baked products to a large local restaurant and through nine c-stores owned by the same individual. To sell beyond a farmer’s market or direct from the farm, the value-added items must be produced in a commercial kitchen. The $7,500 SOAR Farm loan will be used to purchase equipment for the kitchen and renovate space.
The SOAR Small Production Loan Fund is a low-interest financing resource designed to assist small producers grow healthy, nutritional foods so that they can move into commercial production. The goal is to support and educate growers to develop a strong local food system in eastern and southern Kentucky that will be market-supported and result in a profit for the growers.
