Q&A as told to CEI by Maple Wind Farm founder, Bruce Hennessey, in his own words, with minor editing for context.

How did you and your partner get started in farming?

My partner, Beth, and I started this together. Beth has been a serial entrepreneur since she was a kid, and I’ve spent most of my life around farms and animals. At one point, we were both teaching and also running an adventure travel business, leading wilderness trips like mountaineering, skiing, and sea kayaking.

What really set us on this path was a farm at the end of our road that was about to be sold for housing development. We’d already fallen in love with the land, and the idea of seeing it turn into 15 houses didn’t sit right with us. So we decided to buy the farm, initially thinking it would be a home base for our other business.

Once we got there, we realized the land was quickly reverting to forest. We wanted to restore it and care for it, and that’s when the farming really began.

What was the learning curve like early on? 

Steep, very steep. We started with beef cattle, then added chickens and pigs. At the time, we were both vegetarians, not because we opposed eating meat, but because we were deeply uncomfortable with how meat is often produced in this country. Farming became our way back into eating meat in a way that aligned with our values. 

We relied heavily on the farming community, workshops, conferences, and a lot of trial and error. One of the biggest lessons was learning how to graze animals in a way that actually improves the land rather than depleting it. 

What does regenerative grazing look like in practice? 

Movement is everything. You have to be committed to moving animals regularly and allowing land the time it needs to recover. We never bring animals back to the same ground in the same season until it’s regrown well. 

This mimics the natural systems grasslands evolved with. Grazing, hoof impact, sunlight reaching new plants, and healthy soil biology all work together. When you get it right, you build living soil first, and that shows up in healthier plants and ultimately in extremely healthy, high‑quality meat and eggs. 

How has your community responded to your products?

It took time. At first, people bought from us because they knew us. Over time, we learned how to produce food that people wanted to buy because of its quality. Developing a strong forage system and understanding what animals need at different times of year made a huge difference. 

Now we get a lot of feedback about taste and quality, and that tells us we’re doing something right.

You’ve experienced repeated flooding. How has that shaped the farm? 

It’s been one of our biggest challenges. We’ve had three major floods in the last six years, two of which caused significant livestock losses. That’s devastating, emotionally and financially. 

After the earlier floods, we took about a third of our main production land out of primary use so we could react faster when floodwaters rise. In 2024, we had a flood on the exact same date as the year before, but this time our flood response plan worked. We had no livestock losses. 

We still lost infrastructure like fencing, roads, water systems, and later that year we lost our equipment barn to a storm. So no, we’re not fully recovered. But we’re better prepared and more resilient than we were before.

What financial realities do small and mid‑size farms face today? 

There’s a lot stacked against us. Farming requires long‑term thinking, but most financial systems are built around short‑term returns. We don’t have much collateral, and traditional banks can’t or won’t make many of the loans farms like ours need. 

Access to capital is one of the biggest hurdles. Farms like ours are working to repair ecosystems and build long‑term resilience while still having to survive year to year. 

How did CEI support your work?

CEI understood what we’re trying to do long term. A traditional bank would never have made the loan CEI did, not because it wasn’t sound, but because they don’t operate on that time horizon. 

Revenue‑based financing was a game changer for us. Farming is hyper‑seasonal. We build everything we need for the year in six months or less, which creates enormous cash flow pressure. The flexibility of CEI’s financing helped us upgrade infrastructure, reduce labor costs, and offer services to other farms, strengthening the local food system overall. 

What CEI did also helped unlock additional funding from our community. 

What keeps you hopeful through all of this?

I’m stubborn and optimistic. Every year is a new year. Farming requires constant change, whether you like it or not. 

We’re currently in the middle of a Vermont community equity offering, selling a portion of the business to local investors. Our goal is long‑term viability, not just survival. We want Maple Wind Farm to exist beyond Beth and me. 

What would you say to people who usually shop at big grocery chains? 

I think there’s hope. People can either buy cheap food now and pay for the health consequences later, or they can invest in nutrient‑dense food now and avoid those costs down the line. 

When you buy from local farms, you’re paying for more than food. You’re supporting healthy soil, clean water, carbon capture, and resilient communities. Those costs don’t disappear with industrial agriculture, they just get pushed onto society. 

We see people using SNAP benefits choosing to buy from us because they value health and quality. It’s not just about income. It’s about priorities and access. 

What’s next for the farm? 

Our long‑term transition plan is to move toward a worker‑owned, employee‑owned cooperative. We want this farm to thrive beyond our stewardship. That means building a business strong enough to support that transition. 

We’re incredibly proud of the people working with us and excited about what’s ahead.