9/2/2025
| Hope Murray Tremblay
Category:
Derrick Turnbull is working hard to bring healthy, local meat and delicious food to residents in the region, but he admits he is struggling.
The owner of Autumn Mist Farm in Feeding Hills said local road construction that was slated to be a pretty quick project has dragged on, causing many of his customers to seek alternate routes and skip their regular stops to his restaurant for one of his breakfast sandwiches or burgers that he serves all day, or to grab a steak or two for dinner.
“We basically missed all of the summer,” Turnbull said in mid-August. “We can’t wait until the road work is finished.”
Autumn Mist Farm, located at 1157 North Westfield Rd., is on a well-traveled street between Westfield and Agawam. The previous owners had a booming breakfast and lunch business known as the 911 Burgers and Dogs restaurant. When Turnbull purchased it and reopened as Autumn Mist Farm three years ago, he wanted to keep the local flavor and following, but elevate it by offering his own meats raised on his family farm just down the road.
“I got interested in cattle when I was in 4-H,” Turnbull said. He was just 11-years-old and his parents encouraged and supported his passion, which worked out well since the family had a 500-acre farm. Today, Turnbull and his family — which includes his daughter Autumn, 9, and fiancé Tracy Allen – run the farm and the restaurant.
Turnbull is committed to bringing the best meat and freshest ingredients to his customers, whether it’s in his homemade beef and pork sausage, a rib-eye, or any one of his menu items. “I try to use locally grown whenever possible,” he noted.
The first way Autumn Mist Farm delivers on Turnbull’s promise is by taking time to raise the cattle properly.
“We raise our cattle for 25 or 26 months,” Turnbull said. “This gives us the right-size steaks without implants with steroids. This is all natural.”
Larger mass producers of beef use steroids to literally beef-up their cattle in just 14 months, said Turnbull. But that’s not normal.
“They do it because it’s faster and they can sell the meat cheaper, but those steroids are passed on to the people eating the beef,” he said. “Even with chickens — you can go to a store like Costco and get a three-pound chicken breast. A chicken breast should not be three pounds. That’s not healthy.”
Turnbull said even before opening the farm-to-table style restaurant and meat shop, his methods were noticed. Autumn Mist was sold at Big Y stores for six years and was a popular item until recently when the company opted for a cheaper product that Turnbull said is inferior to his.
“They now have meat from New Zealand,” said Turnbull. “So, they don’t have local beef anymore and it devastated us.”
Turnbull said he has had several conversations with the company known for its local commitment, but he understands their need to cut their costs. He said he gets it, but it is hurting him and his employees. He said he is on good terms with the company and hopeful they bring him back.
“Between losing Big Y and the road work, it has really been a struggle,” he said. “But I have not laid off any employees — we are still open and we are here for our customers.”
Turnbull said some loyal customers are making a point to come to the shop despite the road work and he is grateful. Autumn Mist Farm has continued to offer everything on its menu, including its famous breakfast sandwiches and specials. The entire menu is available all day.
“We get a lot of people who work third-shift who come in first thing and they don’t want breakfast,” Turnbull said. “And we have people who want breakfast for dinner — whatever they want from the menu, they can have any time of day.”
Breakfast offerings include a variety of sandwich options, including protein choices such as bacon, kielbasa, steak and ham — all raised at the farm or locally sourced. Even the bread is fresh and local.
“It does cost a little more to offer homemade bread, but it tastes better and is better for you,” Turnbull said.
Deli sandwiches, burgers and hot dogs are on the menu all day, along with cheeseburger chowder, coleslaw, chili and salads. Turnbull said even their French fries are hand-cut and made fresh daily. There are daily specials and their meats are available to take home and include ground beef, tenderloins, steaks, short ribs, kielbasa and more.
Prices range from $4.99 for a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich to $8.99 for a roast beef sandwich to $18/pound
for rib eyes.
“I try to keep everything reasonable but take into account the quality,” Turnbull said.
All the beef is raised down the street but is processed off-site. Turnbull said all meats are “flash frozen” to ensure freshness, but he cannot turn-around products fast enough to sell them not frozen.
“Flash freezing is done right when processed so they are as fresh as possible,” he said.
Autumn Mist Farm has 150 new calves birthed each year and they are lovingly cared for without steroids or hormones for over two years. Turnbull said for bigger farms, this isn’t possible.
“In the United States, farming isn’t profitable,” he said. “A young person who is starting out in farming can’t make it. If they don’t already have a farm, banks don’t want to finance purchasing a farm because it’s too risky.”
Turnbull said his family farm has grown from a hobby farm to what it is today over the past few years since he took over.
“We grow a little every year,” he said. “This is something my daughter will hopefully be able to keep going and I’m looking to expand and hope to open a butcher shop in the near future. I have plans.”
AUTUMN MIST FARM, LOCATED AT 1157 NORTH WESTFIELD RD. IN FEEDING HILLS, IS OPEN MONDAY-SATURDAY FROM 6 A.M. TO 7 P.M. AND SUNDAYS FROM 6 A.M. TO 3 P.M.
VISIT AUTUMNMISTFARM.COM OR LIKE THEM ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE INFORMATION.
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