MONTVALE, Va. – Farmers around the country are feeling the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. Some are dealing with a decline in poultry sales this Thanksgiving.
That’s not the case for a farmer in Montvale. While the gathering at the Thanksgiving table may be smaller this year, buying local seems to be on the rise.
Brent Wills, the owner of Bramble Hollow Farm, is seeing an uptick in sales.
“We’ve seen an increase in egg sales for a lot of baking and cooking. As well as some of the pork cuts, roasts and even things like ribs,” Wills said.
It’s good news to Virginia Poultry Federation President Hobey Bauhan as he remembers the struggle some state farmers felt in the spring when meat was flying off the shelves and processing plants could not keep up.
“It trickled down to the farm level where farmers in some cases did not get as many flocks to grow because of the processing plants,” Bauhan said.
Wills said local customers took out their wallets in support of local farmers back in the spring, so he’s not shocked to see the same support now.
“Having those folks know what you are doing on your farm and know what you are doing producing for their families, that keeps us all in business,” Wills said.
Wills said they gained about 30 to 40% increase in sales from online alone.
With a meat processing facility of his own, Wills plans to work more with nearby farmers in cooperatives to help keep the momentum going.
“It’s really important for small, family-owned diversified farms to stick together because they have power together, in the collective,” Wills said.