Farmer of the Week: The Diemand Family

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it’s time to celebrate our local turkey supplier, Diemand Farm!

Located in Wendell, MA (15 miles north of Amherst), Diemand Farm is run by siblings Annie, Faith, and Peter. Since 1936 when the farm was founded, the Diemand family has been providing food for their local community.

Until recently, Diemand Farm produced and sold eggs in large quantities, but recent rules by the FDA made it more difficult to do so. Since then, the farm has transitioned to a well-balanced approach of eggs, meat, hay, lumber, compost, and value-added products.

These value-added products include turkey pot pie, chicken noodle soup, and many other products that locals clamor for.

UMass has been partnering with the farm for almost 15 years which has given the farm the flexibility to expand production to earlier in the season and have a market for it. Having an institutional partner like UMass provides a stable source of income for a product that tends to be seasonal.

The question many farms that raise animals are often asked is how are the animals treated? Well, The Diemands make sure that their turkeys have a good life. When weather allows, the turkeys are allowed to roam around the land as much as they please. Also the turkeys eat an all-natural feed containing locally grown corn (when available) from Central Connecticut Co-Op. Even turkeys want to eat local!

This Thanksgiving, give thanks to your local farmers by eating locally-raised turkey. Gobble gobble!

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