Luce Farm Wellness
Follow a mostly dirt road up a couple of miles into the hills above the tiny Stockbridge Common. Nestled among the undulating knolls and broad pastures stands an 1820s farmhouse surrounded by a cluster of sturdy barns. Rebecca and Joe Pimentel still can’t believe how they came to be caretakers of the Luce Farm in central Vermont.
“We had been running a CSA-farm, Sweet Georgia P’s, on leased land in the next town over,” Rebecca starts off. “But we had always dreamed of having a beautiful antique hill farm just like this one, something that needed to be brought back to life.”
To make a long story short, the couple learned in the spring of 2015 that the Luce Farm was for sale. They went to scope out the uninhabited property and fell in love with it immediately. Rebecca continues: “We came over pretty much daily after that because we felt so drawn to this land. One afternoon we met a woman named Leah who was tending some of the trees. She said she had been the farm’s caretaker for about 20 years and could answer any questions we might have. She even had keys and showed us around the farmhouse. We became quite friendly with Leah over subsequent visits and told her of our dream to have a farm like this. She seemed intrigued by our vision for the property and said she’d convey the information to the owner.”
The Pimentels finally contacted the local realtor, who indicated the owner had been expecting them to inquire. You guessed it: Leah, the kindly caretaker, was in fact the owner. The deal was sealed, and Rebecca and Joe moved into the farmhouse with their two toddlers on Thanksgiving 2015. “We had turkey sandwiches and we all slept on the floor in front of a roaring fire,” Joe recalls.
The Pimentels and their crew are now in their third year of growing hemp on the Luce Farm. This summer, they’re growing around 4,000 hemp plants, more than double last year’s crop. And that’s still not enough to meet increasing demand for their line of hemp-infused products. So this past spring, they formed the Luce Farm Collective, a group of eight selected growers. “We found the people who share our values and commitment to sustainability,” Joe says. “We provide them with our seed or our plants, and they grow them to our standards. We’re encouraging the growers to start with a relatively small number of plants so they can take the best possible care of them. Since our product line is based on wellness, we want only the best-quality hemp.”
Luce Farm Wellness is a values-based hemp and botanical wellness business. From glass and metal packaging rather than plastic to fair wages for the farmers in their collective, every decision the Pimentels make revolves around family, farm, employees, wellness and community. Luce Farm Wellness is on the path to becoming certified organic through NOFA-VT, which means the farms, extraction lab and manufacturing facility all must be certified as well.
TRANSITIONING TO HEMP
Moving to the Luce Farm allowed Rebecca and Joe to reevaluate their priorities, and they soon realized their CSA model was no longer sustainable. Joe was attuned to the cannabis debate in Montpelier and connected with Evergreen Capital of Burlington, who hired the Pimentels in 2016 to grow hemp for research and development.
“We all wanted to learn as much as possible about how to grow, process and market hemp,” Joe recalls. “We grew a really beautiful crop and spent the winter of 2017 playing with the hemp flowers and developing recipes. We shared the products with friends and with neighbors who had ailments, and everyone was blown away by the results, even the most skeptical.”
Three years in, Rebecca takes the lead on creating new products and e-commerce while Joe focuses on supply management and R&D. Luce Farm Wellness currently makes nine hemp-infused products, including honey and full-spectrum extract. Other hemp-based products include elderberry syrup, infused coconut oil, and topical balms blended with farm-grown botanicals such as calendula, arnica, comfrey, lemon balm, echinacea.
“Our focus is on wellness, with hemp as medicine,” Rebecca explains. “We grow hemp the same healthful way we grow tomatoes: outside in the soil enhanced with compost from our own chickens and goats, strengthened by the sunlight, wind and rain.”
Luce Farm also does some fun collaborations. “In the winter of 2018, we partnered with Long Trail Brewing Company to produce the Medicator, Vermont’s first CBD-infused beer,” Rebecca says. “Long Trail made 10,000 cans, which sold out in two days. That was a record-breaker for them. This year, we’re partnering with Abracadabra Coffee on their Chill Brew, and we’re working with Big Picture Farm on Caramellow Goat Milk Caramels, which are dipped in dark chocolate. They’re my kids’ favorite treats!”
“We don’t want to be the biggest producers,” Joe says. “Our goal is to grow the healthiest and highest-quality hemp we can. We’re not taking shortcuts or looking for gimmicks. Th ese are products we use daily and recommend to our family and friends.”
The team at Luce Farm manages their hemp from seed to shelf, which allows tight control over quality. Joe explains the process: “It’s not just throwing some seeds in the ground and harvesting a miracle crop. We start the plants by seed under grow lights in April; plant out in late June; then harvest, dry and trim the flowers from mid-September through October. Almost anybody can grow plants; the real challenge is to harvest and dry them properly. Community members and friends of ours jump in to help us out. It’s pretty hectic but awesome.”
Lastly, Joe takes the dried flower buds to a CO2 extraction facility in northern Vermont which processes the full-spectrum oil. He sends samples of the oil to an independent lab in Massachusetts for third-party testing. That hemp oil then goes into the products the team manufactures in their state-inspected commercial kitchen in Bethel.
BUILDING THE TEAM
The Pimentels spent much of 2018 engaged in strategic planning and business development. “We brought on some serious expertise. David Barash was our consultant last year and he’s now our CEO. David worked closely with Stonyfield, Burton, Mystic Pie, Shelburne Farms and Ben & Jerry’s. Scott Barden is our CFO. Robin Chadwell and Jesse Hill are our lead growers. Lauren Pomerson is doing a tremendous job as operations manager in our processing kitchen. Sophie Shillue handles social media and community management. She’s worked with us since our fi rst CSA farm days!”
“We couldn’t run this business without everyone pitching in, from the team on the farm to the production crew,” Rebecca notes. “We employ around 30 people, a mix of full and part time. I’m really pleased that 75% of our employees are women.” Joe adds, “And on top of that, we’re supporting the folks in the growing collective and giving them a fair wage for their product.”
The learning curve has been intense and exciting, so Rebecca and Joe have formed an advisory board that includes Alan Newman, Jerry Greenfield, Janice St. Onge, Ted Manning and Beth Sachs. “We’re so thankful that we’ve been able to work with brilliant business people who care about community, family and the earth, along with creating jobs in Vermont,” Joe says.
The Pimentels are pleased with Vermont’s legislative eff orts to support hemp. “When we started in 2016,” Rebecca says, “we were among the first few growers in Vermont. In 2018, there were more than 400 growers.” As experienced and respected hemp producers, the Pimentels are actively involved in policy development at the State House. Joe adds, “We welcome regulations because they keep everyone honest. An unregulated industry confuses the hell out of consumers!”
Nearly four years later and with a booming business, Rebecca and Joe still consider themselves caretakers of the farm, not owners. “We truly believe we were meant to be on this land,” Rebecca says. “We’re still in regular touch with Leah, and she loves what we’re doing here.” Joe adds, “Leah was like a fairy godmother who allowed us to fulfill our dream. And amazingly, she feels so thankful to find people who care just as deeply for this land.”
Luce Farm | @lucefarm
Long Trail Brewing Company
Abracadabra Coffee | @abracadabracoffee
Big Picture Farm | @bigpicturefarm
ADVICE TO CONSUMERS
Do your research. Just like food—know your hemp producer. Are they growing the plants in a healthful way on the farm or just buying in the CBD as a distillate? Find out the extraction method; some are safer than others. Understand what each product is and what your own needs are, whether it’s aches or anxiety. Also neutral third party testing is essential, not just certifi cates of analysis from the lab that sells the oil or extract. Some products may have a QR code you can scan for more information.
