The gift that keeps on giving

Innovative loan program saves Nestor and Alejandra Tello's dream of owning their farm business after storm damage threatens to take everything

Reprinted from the New Farmer Development Council Newsletter

To learn more about the New Farmer Development Project, which helped Nestor and Alejandro Tello get started, click here to visit their listing in our resource center.

Nestor and Alejandra Tello have had a hard road to success. Trained and skilled as a veterinarian, Nestor was working as a technician in an animal clinic when he read an article in the Spanish-language newspaper El Diario announcing the NFDP, a new initiative aimed at training immigrants with agricultural experience to become farmers in this region. With support from the NFDP, the Tellos began farming in 2001 at a farm site in the Catskill Mountains.

When they first started, Nestor and Alejandra were traveling more than four hours each way between the farm and their home in Brooklyn, NY and juggling full time jobs at the same time as trying to build their farm business. Although it was difficult, they managed to do it all, and by their second year, they were planning on moving to a closer farm site in the Hudson Valley, quitting their off-farm jobs, and moving up to the farm full-time.

But the Tellos suffered a terrible blow to their business when their chicken coop collapsed under the weight of heavy snows in winter 2002. They lost everything, and had to face the real possibility of shutting down their business and going back to their old jobs. Luckily, the NFDP had being working with its participants to create a small loan program for its farmers based on Heifer International’s “Passing on the Gift” model. In this peer-monitored model, farmers are given a loan of livestock or seedlings, and they must pass the offspring on to other farmers in the project. With seed money from Heifer International, the NFDP was able to provide the Tellos with a “loan” of 2,000 laying hens to re-start their business.

The Tellos are now managing their egg business with great success—they sell at more than seven farmers markets throughout the year and often sell out early. They have built a loyal clientele who are dedicated to the delicious flavor of the Tellos’ fresh, pasture-raised chicken eggs and their commitment to raising healthy animals without the use of antibiotics or hormones. In the coming years, the Tellos plan to expand their business to include added-value egg products such as egg noodles and quiches as well.