February 19, 2025
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Fresh from the farm Young couple from Pittsfield raises herds for sake of animals’ quality of life, safer foods

PITTSFIELD – There’s a glimmer of hope for agriculture in Maine in the guise of young families entering farming for the first time – no land inheritances, no barns full of equipment already bought and paid for, no established herds or fields – just a raw desire for a simple farming way of life.

Fed up with mass marketing, the repulsive living conditions of commercially raised animals, and the mediocre quality of the products, Dan and Carrie Armiger established their first farm in rural Pittsfield just 18 months ago.

In Maine, 65 percent of farmers are already at age 55 or older, with no family member coming up behind them to take over the farm, according to state agricultural experts. Many of these farms will be sold to developers and their “last crop” will likely be house lots.

The Armigers, however, headed back to the land, seeking a simpler life, and along the way they discovered that many other people are seeking the same thing.

Dan, 23, and Carrie, 27 – who have a 4-month-old daughter, Danielle – established a raw, 20-acre homestead in rural Pittsfield and are leaning on area farmers to help them learn the ropes. Both still have jobs off the farm to keep things afloat.

“We’ve made some mistakes,” Dan Armiger acknowledged this week. “It’s very, very hard to start from scratch. Financially, sometimes it seems like I’m too tired from farming to go to work, or too tired from work to farm. All the money we make goes into the animals and their feed and care.” At this point, Armiger said, he makes about $150 from every $100 investment in the farm.

But this spring, the young couple began bringing their naturally raised pork and poultry to the local farmers market. “This will save us,” Carrie Armiger said. “We believe that within two years, the farm will be self-sustaining.”

A healthy trend

Diana Schivera, the livestock specialist at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, said the explosion in farmers markets and the popularity of pasture-raised livestock are definitely a healthy trend.

“There has become a value to the consumer in knowing what their farmers are doing, how their farms are managed,” Schivera said recently. Scientific studies have shown that pasture-raised meat has a higher level of nutrition. “But I’d like to think that people are just more aware of the importance of supporting their local farming systems.”

Two log cabins, a handmade chicken coop, a rough barn and an attached pig sty make up the Armiger Family Farm on Spring Road, but the modest beginnings reflect the simpler life the family has chosen.

“Just about everything we eat, we grow,” Daniel Armiger said. The couple also sell pork, poultry and eggs from free-range hens at the local market and from their farm. They also barter with other farmers for goods and services.

“We traded a rasher of bacon for help with our farm brochure,” Carrie Armiger said.

“It gives us a great sense of satisfaction to provide food for our neighbors,” she added.

“Because we provide natural feed and don’t push them full of antibiotics, our customers can take this meat home and serve it to their families with confidence,” Dan Armiger said.

‘Accidental farmers’

Because neither was raised on a farm, they described themselves as “accidental farmers.”

Carrie Armiger comes from a military background and has lived in Maine, Iceland and Florida. Dan Armiger was raised in New Jersey but fondly recalls visiting his godfather’s hog farm.

“All I ever wanted was to live in Maine and have some horses,” he said.

The couple established their family farm in 2006.

At first, they raised some pigs and tried to sell sides of pork. “But it’s hard for people to make that kind of investment,” Dan Armiger said. “But at the farmers market, I can’t raise pigs fast enough.”

Currently, they are also raising dozens of baby chicks that will grow into meat chickens and laying hens, as well as ducks and turkeys. Carrie Armiger is also applying for a state license so she can provide homemade bread and cookies for the farmers market.

Both admit that the many highly publicized national meat recalls have helped business.

“People just feel safer if they know their farmer,” Dan Armiger said. “Our customers are now seeking us out and they really appreciate the quality of naturally grown pork and they know the difference.”

Carrie said a customer at a recent farmers market said she makes it a practice to eat at least two meals a week purchased from local sources. “I’m constantly surprised at the number of people that are trying to eat locally.”

For now, to augment the farm, Dan Armiger works full time nights at Pride Manufacturing. Carrie Armiger works two 12-hours shifts as a certified nurse’s aide at Sebasticook Valley Hospital.

“We’d like to expand,” Dan Armiger said. “But we don’t want to lose the family farm aspect. It’s a matter of quality versus quantity.”

Carrie Armiger said that the farm will expand as long as its size does not affect either the quality of the product or the animals’ lives. “Or ours,” she added.

bdnpittsfield@verizon.net

487-3187


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