Three new barns could almost double production
News staff photo by REBECCA LEONARD The Country Hen at 16 Williamsville Road in Hubbardston will be expanding to include land at 7 Williamsville Road. Three new barns will be built to contain 20,000 free-range hens each.
Rebecca Leonard
News Correspondent
HUBBARDSTON The Country Hen organic egg farm on Williamsville Road is proposing an expansion that will almost double the size of its output.
“You can either grow or go,” said General Manager Bob Beauregard.
Mr. Beauregard brought his proposal to the Conservation Commission this spring.
According to Mr. Beauregard, the organic egg industry has seen 15 percent growth per year for the past five years.
The expansion will consist of building three new single-story barns, with a proposed size of 91 feet wide and 335 feet long.
Currently the farm can carry a maximum of 65,000 hens. The new barns will hold 20,000 hens each. The buildings will be built on new property just down the street from their current farm.
The land at 7 Williamsville Road, across the street and a house or two down from the current farm, was purchased from Larry and Jean Nelson, who seem to support the farm’s expansion.
“There are a lot of neighbors that support our plans for expansion,” stated Mr. Beauregard. Of course with change comes naysayers and Mr. Beauregard has received some concerns from his neighbors.
These concerns range from the smell from the barns and flies and rodents to the amount of storm water coming off the roofs of the new buildings.
Mr. Beauregard admits that it is a farm so there will occasionally be a smell and flies but as far as an abundance of pests there are strict laws that the farm must follow to keep them under control.
In 2010, a Salmonella Enteritidis prevention plan was released and put into place by Food and Drug Administration.
The plan limits the amount of visitors on the farm, mandates the eggs be processed a particular way and controls the rodent and pest populations on the farm. A secondary pest management system is also in place.
“We don’t go around the law,” assured Mr. Beauregard. Buffers will be put in place to shield the wetlands that surround the property from anything harmful to the ecosystem and a drainage system should stop the abundance of rainwater from effecting neighbors’ properties.
Currently, Mr. Beauregard is waiting on a site plan approval from the Conservation Commission and then the plans will be further discussed.
The proposed construction period for the new buildings will be about two to two and a half years, but it is “weather dependent.”
“We want to do the right thing for everyone so we’re doing everything we can,” expressed Mr. Beauregard.
The Country Hen has been in business since 1986 and has given numerous donations to the town of Hubbardston, including a $15,000 scholarship from the original owner, George Bass, and an additional $15,000 from Hidden Villa Ranch who took over the farm in 2012.
Mr. Beauregard has his third meeting with the Conservation Commission on Sept. 16 as a way to make sure everything is compliant with laws and regulations.
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