Location: Town of Macedon, Wayne County
Size: 191 acres
Description: Packard Cattle, LLC, owned and operated by Tom Packard and Kevin Quigley, operates on 1,245 acres of the land, but the 191-acre property is the only piece owned outright by the business. The main focus of Packard Cattle, LLC is beef cattle, but this is a diversified operation with corn, soybeans, hay and high quality maple syrup as well as some poultry and sheep. The farm buys, sells, and raises registered and commercial Angus cattle. Beef is sold direct to consumers through wholesale outlets and as well as direct to restaurants at auction. The farm is being positioned to expand the amount of beef sold in local restaurants.
The Packard Cattle operation includes about 400 beef cows, a few dozen sheep, corn, soybeans, hay, pasture and maple sap. Out of the 1,245 acres managed, about 65% of the operational land base is used to support the cattle with 45 acres used for sap production. Any row crops not fed to the animals are marketed through local and Canadian grain markets. Excess hay is also sold to local and out-of-state markets. Currently, the operation slaughters on average one cow per week for individual cuts plus 1 to 2 half and quarter cows per week.
Packard Cattle has over 2500 maple taps, 200 of which are located on the West Walworth Road farm. The maple syrup is marketed directly to consumers at a road-side stand on 31F. The last few years, the farm has partnered with the neighboring Log Cabin Restaurant to host a “Maple Weekend” in March with pony rides, a petting zoo, kids activity zone, horse drawn wagon rides, tractor rides to the sugar bush and guided tours of the sap house. Packard Cattle is a member of the New York State Maple Producers Association.
History: Tom Packard is the fourth generation of the Packard family to farm. Tom grew up on Packard Valley Farms which was established by the Packard family in the early 1900’s. He gained insight and experience from working with his family. Now Tom manages the Packard Valley Farms in addition to the Packard Cattle, LLC. Partner, Kevin Quigley comes from a long line of farmers and started learning the trade on his grandfather’s farm, which Packard Cattle now rents. Tom Packard and Kevin Quigley purchased the project farm in August of 2017.