CHOCOLAY TWP, Mich. (WLUC) – Many farms struggled in 2020 due to the lack of food demand from restaurants and cancelled events.Jeff Hatfield opened his farm, Seeds and Spores Family Farm, nearly 20 years ago. He sells anything from fresh produce, to meats, to medicinal herbs, but his future looked bleak at one point.“We direct market our produce locally and sell to the farmer’s market or off the farm or to restaurants,” Hatfield said. “So yeah, COVID shook things up a little bit.”Online sales and the perseverance of the local farmers market allowed his business to survive another year.“I think all of the local farmers would give a nod to Sarah for pushing through and running the downtown farmer’s market because she kept something going which could have withered.”Though the farm is ran by him, his wife and three kids, managing 12 greenhouses, livestock and a kitchen is a lot of work. So, about seven employees work for Seeds and Spores nine months out of the year.Fortunately, all of their employees were able to stay employed throughout the economic crisis.This farm family is no stranger to hardships. Back in 2016, one of their greenhouses caught on fire, but Hatfield said the secret to bouncing back is their customers that support the farm week in and week out.He said he looks forward to welcoming all of those customers back on the farm in the new year. Copyright 2021 WLUC. All rights reserved.
