Mace Chasm Farm was founded in 2012 by Courtney Grimes Sutton in Keeseville, NY. With a career in whole-animal butchery, Courtney knew the hilly Adirondackʼs farm site would be perfect for grazing cattle. Today Mace Chasm manages over one hundred acres of pasture through regenerative, rotational grazing. Additionally, Mace Chasm produces forest raised pork and pastured poultry.

The Lake Champlain Basin Project reached out to Mace Chasm Farm in 2023 to see if they would pilot a tree nursery enterprise, with the intention of providing grafted native trees to local municipalities. The pilot program included both bare root and potted trees, and was wildly successful; in 2024 Mace Chasm sold all 1600 trees produced and expanded their farm revenue significantly. Projections for 2025 and 2026 are roughly five-times what they generated in 2024.

In support of this enterprise, Mace Chasm Farm received a grant from Lake Champlain Basin Project to support the project with the purchase of a large walk-in cooler, young, newly grafted native trees in a temperature stable environment throughout their first year. The funding will also pay for the site prep and concrete pad the cooler will sit on.

In order to accommodate the cooler, Mace Chasm farm will need to upgrade the electrical system in their barn, including new cable, transformers, conduit, and a 200 amp panel. Mace Chasm has successfully fundraised a little over half of the necessary funding through Adirondack North Country Association, an organization we have partnered with over the last several years to deploy 0% interest loans in the region. With an additional low-interest loan from Foodshed Capital, Mace Chasm will be able to cash flow this upgrade and realize the native tree nursery enterprise profits for years to come.