Building the
Future of Food in
Our Community
Friends: Winter persists, but our amazing partnerships (and thoughts of spring) are keeping our hearts warm! We're pleased to share our latest news and updates with you.
Photo Credit: Don Perdue
Farmer and Food Business Spotlight:
Hudson Valley Malt
If you like incredibly flavorful, locally sourced craft beer or single-malt whiskey, you should get to know Dennis and Jeanette Nesel. At their small farm in Germantown, NY, the husband-and-wife team malts locally grown barley, wheat and rye for local brewers and distilleries as Hudson Valley Malt.
 
Dennis and Jeanette are filling what had been a gap in the local supply chain – namely, that many local grain farmers were sending their product out of the region, or even out of state, to be malted (the process of converting raw grain into a product that can be used to make beers and spirits).
 
Now, in a converted horse barn, these former corporate “desk jockeys” are malting around one million pounds of local grains annually – and business is booming. As they scaled up, the Nesels used a low-interest loan from BAV’s Revolving Loan Fund to purchase two outdoor bins to store (and dry) large quantities of locally grown grain.
 
Although HVM’s “pre-industrial revolution” method of making malt is physical (lots of hand tools!), Dennis said this care and attention to detail helps create flavors in local beers and whiskeys that many people have never tasted. “Good malt is a brewer’s secret weapon,” he said.
 
To find out more about Hudson Valley Malt, visit their website (a tasting room and retail store is scheduled to open later this year). To find out more about the science and art of malting grain, contact Dennis – he’d be happy to tell you all about it!
Jeanette and Dennis with the tools of their trade
Can BAV loan funding help your business?

Berkshire Agricultural Ventures provides low-cost business loans for equipment, farm improvements, supplies, debt refinancing, and other needs for farmers and food producers throughout the region. Whether your business is ready to grow or could use some renewal, we’ll work with you to understand your financial situation and explore how a loan could help your business. BAV also provides business and financial planning and marketing assistance to help loan funds go further.

BAV offers these loans as part of our mission to help the regional agricultural economy thrive. We are not a bank or a credit union, and all repayments go to support new loans to other food and farm businesses in our region. We are able to lend at low costs because of the generous support of our donors. BAV also receive program support through the USDA's Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program. To find out how BAV can help your farm or food business through loans, grants, or technical assistance, please contact BAV Director of Lending and Finance Shannon Smith.
Round Up with Wild Oats!

For the month of March, Wild Oats Market in Williamstown is giving customers the opportunity to “round up” their purchase amounts at checkout and donate the spare change to support BAV and our work to build a thriving and equitable local food economy. Thank you, Wild Oats!

Welcome New BAV Staff!

BAV recently three new members to our staff:
Jake Levin, Program Coordinator for Local Meat Processing Support, is a Berkshire native who has a passion both for meat production and for supporting sustainable agriculture. He’s managed a whole-animal butcher shop and a USDA-inspected dry-cured pork production facility, and is the author of the 2019 book “Smokehouse Handbook.” Jake sits on the Board of Directors for Berkshire Grown, the Berkshire Food Co-op, and the New Marlborough Land Trust. Jake earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University and an M.F.A. from Bard College. He lives in New Marlborough with his wife and daughter.
Shannon Smith, Director of Lending and Finance, first became interested in regional food systems after stewarding a community garden and being a member owner of the Park Slope Food Coop. Previously, Shannon held various underwriting and consulting roles in institutional investments, private lending, and financial technology. Now a Hudson Valley resident, Shannon earned a B.A. in Public Policy and Economics from Duke University, and a Certificate of Graduate Studies in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems from Tufts University.
Paul A. Stermer, Development Director, grew up on a small farm in Southwest Michigan. After working as a journalist, an author, and an editor, he has devoted his career to food systems work, helping raise funds and build awareness for numerous nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, and nationwide. Paul serves on the board of the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum. He earned a degree in creative writing from Western Michigan University, and now lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife and their two children.
Why I Give
“Having studied sustainable agriculture in college, I know that access to capital is a major barrier for many small farms, especially through traditional financial institutions. I make a recurring monthly donation to support BAV's efforts to provide flexible financing options to the farms and food producers in our region so that they can scale sustainably. BAV is uniquely positioned to foster solutions for local meat production, equitable land access, and climate-smart growing practices that will help ensure a resilient agricultural economy in the Berkshires for years to come.”
Rachel Moriarty
Director of Operations, Schumacher Center for a New Economics
BAV Board Member
BAV donor since 2019
Black History Month
BAV is proud to call Great Barrington home, the same town where W.E.B. Du Bois (left), a leading thinker on race and the plight of Black Americans, spent his boyhood years. Find out more about this remarkable individual.

In the News
Read how the food system is transforming, right before our eyes, right here in our region, thanks to the efforts of the New Lebanon Farmers Market (with an early assist from BAV!) in this recent Modern Farmer story.