Alumni find calling on yak farm

Until three summers ago, Kate Williams ’89 didn’t know much about yak faming. But that all changed during the summer of 2007, when Williams and her husband, Rob Williams ’89, traveled from their home in Vermont to visit her brother in Montana, where he owned a small herd of yaks.

“We fell in love with the animals,” she said. “They seemed like the perfect fit for Vermont.”

Today, along with her husband and two other families, Williams co-owns Steadfast Farm in Waitsfield, Vt., home to the Vermont Yak Company and the only meat-producing yak herd in the Northeast.

Williams said that, for much of her life, she didn’t think she would be involved with farming of any kind, though she had been interested in the environment for many years. As an undergraduate, she was a history major and was involved in Outdoor Action.

After graduating, she worked for a few years as an outdoor educator before becoming a writer for High Country News, a Colorado-based environmental magazine. That job was “a great way to bring together my teaching and interest in the environment and made me realize that farming is a great way to get out on the land,” she said.

Williams now serves as executive director of the nonprofit Northern Forest Canoe Trial, while her husband teaches history and media studies at Champlain College.

Steadfast Farm started out with a herd of 24 yaks that were purchased in 2008 from a Minnesota farmer through the International Yak Association, a trade group dedicated to yak breeding.

“After we got some initial press from starting the farm, a few people called us and said they had yaks they were willing to sell, so we bought a few more, focused on building a herd, and today we have 48,” Williams said.

The Williams’ main motivation for founding the Steadfast Farm was to “create a model for agriculture that works in today’s world and to contribute to the local landscape and economy,” she explained, citing the multiple advantages to raising yaks.

“They are beautiful animals with a spirited personality and attitude — efficient grazers, disease-resistant — and the Vermont climate works well for them,” she said.

The day-to-day farm tasks are divided between the three families who own the farm. In the winter, each family is responsible for feeding the yaks, and during the summer months, the families lead the yaks between 10 different grazing pastures.

Though yak farming is a small industry primarily focused in the Midwest, Williams said that she has seen a recent rise in interest in local food and grass-fed animals.

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“As farming becomes localized, people tend to be more open to diversity,” she said. “In our situation, we certainly hope that’s the case.”

Business at Steadfast Farm has remained steady despite the ongoing economic downturn, Williams said, adding that yak meat prices have remained stable in comparison to prices for grass-fed beef.

“Our meat business is doing great, especially our sausages, which are popular,” she said. “Customers are buying yak meat because it’s healthy: It has one-sixth the fat and 40 percent the protein of beef steak.”

Williams attributed Steadfast Farm’s success to its commitment to the local economy.

“We sell our meat mainly to local restaurants and families and at farmers’ markets, with only a few out-of-state buyers,” she explained. “We haven’t been affected because people look locally in times like these, and we are a local business.”