Name: Orchard Hill Farm
Address: Stan and Gail Maynard
507 Pratt Road
Woodland, Maine 04736
Phone: 207-498-8541
Email: orchhill@ainop.com
Products and Services:
-Scottish Highland cattle - breeding stock
-USDA inspected and MOFGA certified
organic grass-fed beef
-blueberries
-raspberries
-hay
-member of Presque Isle Farmers’ Market
-oats
-member of Maine Highland Cattle, New
England Highland Cattle, and the American
Highland Cattle Associations
-recipients of the 2010 Central Aroostook
Soil & Water Conservation District’s
Outstanding Conservation Farm of the Year
Award
What Makes Orchard Hill Farm Unique?
Stan and Gail Maynard may have retired from
careers as a teacher and teacher/ principal respectively, but their present-day lives as full-time farmers leave little time for relaxation. They are successfully raising Scottish Highlander cattle on their 160-acre farm in Woodland for breeding stock and beef. They grow and harvest high bush blueberries and raspberries and they raised two pigs this past summer. Stan and Gail are focused on organic practices, local food production, and advocating for the establishment of a USDA inspected and MOFGA certified meat processing plant in Central Aroostook.
Back in their high school days, Stan and Gail admired the Scottish Highlander cattle on a neighbor’s farm in New Hampshire. When they inherited a farm in Oakfield, Maine, and moved there in 1989, they decided to purchase two Scottish Highlander heifers and a bull. In 2001, they decided to move their farm. They purchased an old farmhouse in the Old Swedish Colony area of Woodland. They now have a herd of approximately 75 cattle in a location with an abundance of open fields and stunning views.
Stan and Gail explained that the Scottish Highlanders that they raise are a breed of cattle that are well adapted to the harsh Maine climate
with their double coat of hair. They require little shelter from the cold and usually no assistance with the birthing of their calves. They are very self-sufficient and can thrive on being grass-fed. Their meat is considered exceptionally lean and tasty.
The Maynards raise approximately enough hay from their land to produce one thousand 4x4 round bales. They sell some of the excess hay. In addition to their 160 acres, they lease 140 acres of land from their neighbors. When Unique Maine Farms visited Orchard Hill Farm this past August, their son, Michael, was assisting with the haying.
In 2010, the Maynards were recognized as the 2010 Outstanding Conservation Farm of the Year by the Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District. Some of their exemplary farming practices that helped to qualify them for this recognition included the frequent rotational grazing of their cattle for fresh pasture. They grow the 2:1 ratio of hay to silage that is fed to their animals in the winter and spring. They also are growing oats organically. In the summer of 2013, they were testing thirty acres of Triticale, an organic hybrid wheat.
According to the Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District’s website, the Maynards worked with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to
design and construct a Heavy Use Area and manure storage, diversion ditches, and vegetated filter strip. The filtered runoff from the area is treated in a small storage pond. A concrete surface was constructed in the Heavy Use Area to prevent soil erosion and compaction and reduce the risk of the contamination of the soil and groundwater. The Maynards developed a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan and distributed manure and wood ash from New England Organics in Fort Fairfield on their pasture land.
It is not surprising that the Maynards would be progressive in their approach to farming. As educators, they were open to exploring new
methods and broadening their horizons. They taught school in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria. Gail Maynard ran for the Maine State House seat in District 3. This past March they organized and hosted a tour of many of the small family farms throughout Aroostook County for the members of the Maine Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry. They are members of the Maine Highland Cattle Association, the Northeast Highland Cattle Association, and the American Highland Cattle Association.
Along with Troy Haines, a custom meat cutter from Mapleton, the Maynards have been working to see that a USDA inspected and MOFGA certified meat inspection facility be constructed in central Aroostook so that beef, pork, lamb, and sheep could be processed locally. Presently farmers in Aroostook need to transport their animals on a ride that is over four-hundred miles roundtrip to the nearest USDA meat inspection facility in Dover-Foxcroft. Troy and Stan and Gail have already described their meat inspection facility plans at a Slow Money Maine gathering in Augusta. They will be making a presentation at the statewide Slow Money Maine gathering in Belfast on November 14, 2013. They hope to
garner additional financial support for the project.
The Maynards explained that they feed no grain, growth hormones, antibiotics, or animal by-products to their Scottish Highlanders. The cattle are raised on their farm from birth. The beef is dry-aged for twenty-one days and is sold flash frozen in cryovac packaging. They are licensed for retail sales and mobile vending. They sell their beef in various quantities including whole, sides, and quarters. The various cuts that they offer are posted on the Retail Price List webpage.
According to their brochure, the Maynards’ beef is much lower in saturated (bad) fat and high in omega-3 (good) fatty acids, vitamins A and E, and antioxidants. Beef raised from solely grass-fed cattle has high levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Some research substantiates that CLA is helpful in combating breast cancer and tumors.
For individuals interested in purchasing some of the Maynards’ grass-fed beef they can meet up with them at the Presque Isle Farmers’ Market. Stan mentioned that they often deliver some of the larger orders or meet people who live a good distance away at a convenient location. Many people choose to visit Orchard Hill Farm to pick up their meat. It is set atop a beautiful hill that overlooks the countryside in all directions. There are lovely gardens, an historic apple orchard, and high bush blueberries and raspberries. It is always good to call ahead because the Maynards may be “retired” from the field of education, but they certainly haven’t stopped learning and sharing their knowledge and plans to support local agriculture with others!
