S M A L L B U S I N E S S M AT T E R S Sweetening the deal Sugar Mountain Farm's business evolution is a lesson in logic and a little luck BY S T E V E K RU T | m e a t p o u l t r y @ s o s l a n d.c o m 50 W hen he was just 15 years old, Walter Jeffries resolved that he wanted to be a farmer. It was then that the operator of Sugar Mountain Farm in West Topsham, Vermont, began taking his first steps in a long journey into the meat business. The story of how he moved on to become one of the most unique meat processing operations anywhere has been a MEAT+ POULTRY | 09.17 | www.meatpoultry.com tale of thinking logically and acting naturally. "I knew that being a farmer meant you had to have land and equipment and produce something," Jeffries recalls. "I had nothing and realized that I would have to get money together if I wanted to do anything to realize my dream of farming. "I worked as a computer programmer and as a chemist and even began inventing things Sugar Mountain Farm Sugar Mountain Farm traces its roots to a pig production operation and eventually the company began processing and selling pork at its Vermont-based facility.http://www.meatpoultry.com