May 2026 Member Highlight – David Heath

Written by Kate Bosley

David has always been involved in agriculture. Growing up there was a number of farms surrounding him, and he found his way helping them, from helping with haying or finding other odd jobs.

He recalls his father boiling on an outdoor evaporator, saying “I loved to watch it boil and loved the smell!” He continued, saying “My father always said you will be old enough next year to help,” but unfortunately that opportunity ended when he was only in 4th grade.

Fortunately, he was not easily perturbed, as he continued finding jobs around town. He began mowing a lawn for a woman who in trade gifted him a barrel arch – and he has been sugaring ever since – “almost 40 years!”

Today, David and his family now operate Vermont Maple Tavern in Williamstown, Vermont. Together he and his family make maple syrup, grow Christmas trees, and make balsam wreaths. They once raised angus, pigs, and chickens as well, but David highlights that “like a lot of Vermont farmers it is not my only job” and it was difficult to balance everything on his plate.

David has goals to expand the sugar woods, increasing their number of taps, however in April of 2026 they experienced a devastating tornado – not something you hear everyday in Vermont! With time already being a limited resource, David says he will “be cutting trees all summer that blew down” just to clean up his woods for the coming season.

David is also a Vermont Farm Bureau member and he values that “Farm Bureau is full of people in this state like myself – trying to keep faming a way of life!”

David’s home and sugar woods has been insured with Nationwide for over 10 years.

“I can remember thinking who better to buy insurance from then a farmer herself,” David said.

He even reflects that he has not had the best of luck throughout the years and has had a few insurance incidents, however, he notes “every time I have needed them they were there, they are truly on your side!”

He continued by saying “I am proof that is not just a slogan! I have lived it I would not change a thing or insure with anyone else!”

Lastly, when asked what farming has taught him, he says “if you like the outdoors you will learn how to live off the land and gain survival skills you can’t learn from behind a desk.”