SKYVIEW FARMS
Aaron and Laura Cunningham
Aaron and Laura Cunningham established SkyView Farms in northern Iowa in 2010, and set out to provide high quality Iowa products to their community and bring people together through the love of good food. What started as a herd of nine Angus beef cattle has grown to 125 cow/calf pairs and 125 fed cattle, which are raised from birth to plate on the farm. The farm’s retail beef business began in 2013 with a dozen customers and has expanded to include more than 60 wholesale and retail customers.
SkyView Farms’ Choose Iowa grant project will expand its current direct sales beef business to become a protein-based food hub offering beef, pork, poultry and eggs to Iowans. SkyView will remodel its current retail space, upgrade its freezer units, purchase aggregation and shipping equipment, and update its website-based ordering system. SkyView has identified several producers who are interested in collaborating to launch the hub.
The project will add value to SkyView Farms’ products as well as the products of its partners, and will increase the number of products offered through the hub. Skyview Farms expects to expand its markets, which will increase customers as well as wholesalers and retailers with whom it does business. SkyView also anticipates an increase in gross sales of multiple Iowa-raised products.
