Gingue Family Farm

About the Farm

NEK Grains was established in 2020 by Shawn and Sara Gingue, bringing together generations of farming knowledge with a fresh vision for local grain production. Shawn, a fourth-generation farmer, began experimenting with small grains in 2018 to see if they could thrive in the unique growing environment of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. After proving that quality wheat could indeed flourish in their region, he became the heart of the growing and harvesting operations, managing all the equipment and field work on land that has been cropped by their family since the mid-1900s when it primarily served as a dairy farm.

Sara took a different path to farming, transitioning from many years as a hairstylist to trading her shears for a granite stone mill, where she now finds herself usually covered in flour. She oversees the milling process and runs the Gingue Family Farm store, curating a selection of Vermont products to complement their own grain production. Together, they have created a complete grain-to-flour operation where they plant, grow, harvest, clean, store and process every single grain of wheat that becomes their fresh-milled flour.

The farm operates with a commitment to sustainable agriculture and healthy soil building, choosing to grow their grain crops without pesticides. Their wheat is milled on a granite stone mill to capture full flavor and maintain the nutritional integrity of the entire wheat berry, including the bran, wheat germ, endosperm and natural oils. They focus primarily on Warthog Wheat, known for its excellent flavor and versatility, and have expanded to include soybeans in their crop rotation along with rye and additional wheat varieties to offer customers a wider selection of fresh, locally-grown flour with a distinctive light, nutty flavor.