Flying Goat Farm in New Gloucester is up for a grant to purchase an electric vehicle to use for deliveries. Pictured is the farm’s barn, which has solar panels on the roof. Rory Sweeting / Lakes Region Weekly

The New Gloucester Select Board recently approved Flying Goat Farm’s request to sign a letter of support for a grant allowing the farm to buy an electric delivery van.

The Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Equipment-Only Program, a partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its state counterparts, aims to invest in food supply chain resilience and value-added processing by providing grants for the distribution of food and beverages made up of 51% or more ingredients farmed within the state, which, in Flying Goat Farm’s case, refers to Maine-grown dairy.

Bonnie Sammons and her son-in-law and farm co-owner, Devin Shepard, told the New Gloucester Select Board on Oct. 21 that the grant does not come around very often. She also noted that letters of support are standard format for such grants, and that the USDA and Maine Department of Agriculture want to see that the community supports the effort.

The barn at Flying Goat Farm holds around 60 goats during the winter. Rory Sweeting / Lakes Region Weekly

Sammons said that there has been a resurgence of interest in farming in recent years, despite the industry’s decline in Maine since the mid-20th century, and praised her daughter and son-in-law, Cara Sammons-Shepard and Devin Shepard, for 16 years of hard work.

The letter of consideration signed by the Select Board states that the farm, which has been based out of the former Brookings Farm since 2019, has made numerous improvements to the land, building an infrastructure in order to make the farm more sustainable. The most significant of these is a refurbished barn topped by a solar array.

Flying Goat Farm, Sammons said, has successfully submitted grant proposals in the past, all of which were aimed at making the farm more viable, resilient and economically and environmentally sound. The main purpose of the RFSI grant is to purchase an electric van – an orange Volkswagen Buzz – to use for making frequent trips to Portsmouth, a 200-mile round trip, to replace the “gas-guzzling” pickup truck that Shepard currently uses for the commute.

When asked by Select Board head Dustin R. Ward how the van would aid in the food supply, Shepard noted that his sister at Merribrook Farm, also in New Gloucester, also makes deliveries in a vehicle of her own, and said that having the van will allow them to consolidate travel. Sammons also said that Flying Goat Farm, in the context of the Maine agricultural industry, is an early adopter of electric vehicles.

The hearing ended with the Select Board approving a motion in support of the grant; Shepard then provided cheese samples for the board members.

Flying Goat Farm’s cheese will be pickled and sold to local restaurants. Rory Sweeting / Lakes Region Weekly

Shepard has been watching the electric vehicle market for the past two years and saw that the market was right for buying a new electric vehicle, Sammons told the Lakes Region Weekly.

“There aren’t going to be tons of them on the road yet,” she said, “(Shepard and Sammons-Shepard) think that this will be a very recognizable vehicle for the farm and show that electric vehicles are a viable opportunity in Maine.”

Shepard and Sammons-Shepard said they want the farm to be resilient and sustainable, continuing to provide great products, while also striving to be a model of sustainability for other farmers. After working on the business for 15 years, they said they are also working to have time for “more than the farm.”

For Shepard, the prospect of buying the van is also exciting on a personal level. A former mechanic, he said he is highly passionate about both electric vehicles and the Volkswagen brand, centering a major high school project around VWs in his youth, and more recently installing an EV charger on the farm. He noted that the Volkswagen Buzz is his dream delivery vehicle, and said that he would probably end up buying one regardless of the grant.

“This vehicle specifically,” said Shepard, “is going to change people’s minds about EVs.”