Vermont Ag Hall of Fame

Four individuals were inducted into the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame today at the Champlain Valley Fair:

Sen. Justin Smith Morrill (posthumous by 110 years)
Sen. Patrick Leahy
W. Dean Merrill
Philip K. Grime

Sen. Morrill, the father of the Land Grant College system, is the only Vermonter in the National Agricultural Hall of Fame.

A little known fact about Sen. Leahy: He was a top shooter on the rifle team at Saint Michael's College (graduated in 1961). I shot on the rifle team at the University of Maine (graduated in 1977) and I enjoyed comparing notes with the Senator today about college rifle teams. Sadly, neither school has a rifle team any more.

Congratulations to the 2008 inductees to the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame!

This was the 6th year of the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame. Here are all the inductees from 2003-2008 (click to enlarge):

China and Entrepreneurship

The Beijing Olympics finished up last week, and were generally acclaimed a resounding success. Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal had an opinion column by Tony Blair about what it all means for China and the world.

This is a historic moment of change.

Tony Blair is a uniquely interesting person to write on this subject. He is the former prime minister of Britain—the first Western country to make significant contact with China, but unfortunately not in a good way, with the Opium Wars of the mid 1800s. And it is Britain which will host the next Olympics in 2012.

The Olympic Games are a wonderful means of communication:

These Games have given people a glimpse of modern China in a way that no amount of political speeches could do.

And Mr. Blair liked what he saw. It struck him in an emotional way that his previous contacts with China had not. Here is how he described a recent meeting with "some of the younger Chinese entrepreneurs":

Above all, there was a confidence, an optimism, a lack of the cynical, and a presence of the spirit of get up and go, that reminded me greatly of the U.S. at its best and any country on its way forward.

That is a better description of the entrepreneurial spirit than anything I have written on this blog. Thank you, Mr. Blair.

I, too, saw some of this entrepreneurship in China (example).

Farm Credit Fellow - Dan Lyons

The last student to serve a week in Yankee as a Farm Credit Fellow this year was Daniel Lyons.

Dan is a senior at the University of Maine in Orono and will be graduating in the spring of 2009. He grew up on the coast of Maine in a fishing and tourism based community. Dan took an interest in agriculture 3 years ago after a family member's acquisition of a 280 acre organic farm in Orwell, VT. He worked on the farm full time last summer and part time this summer. As of now he plans to explore the country upon graduation and make use of his construction background but wants to settle down on the family owned farm where he hopes to grow grains and experiment with biofuels and other alternate energy sources.

Dan's week in the St. Albans office of Yankee Farm Credit started with a tour of a wide variety of farms including a 2500 cow dairy, a 100 cow dairy, and some new facilities expansions. He not only learned how Yankee evaluates and rates its borrowers but also how they build a working relationship that goes beyond lending money.

Farm Credit Fellow - Andrew Birch

Andrew Birch of Derby, VT spent last week in the Middlebury office as a part of the Farm Credit Fellows program. Andy’s family farm, Maple Grove Farm sold out a few years ago, but Andy and his younger brother continue to raise a few heifers of their own, Andy has a couple of cows that are currently boarded out. This will be his final year at UVM as part of the 2+2 F.A.R.M.S program. Andy is also a member of the UVM chapter of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. This past summer Andy completed an internship at the Hoard's Dairyman Farm in Wisconsin. The Hoard's farm milks 270 Guernsey cows. Andy helped out with herd work, hoof trimming, breeding, and farm tours while on the farm. Andy has not finalized his plans for after graduation yet, but plans to work as a herdsperson somewhere for a few years, with the eventual goal of running his own farm some day.

Relationships

We have been discussing three values on this blog: integrity, competence and entrepreneurship. I am adding a fourth value to this list: relationships.

Yankee Farm Credit has always been a relationship lender. We value our customers as people. Our mission statement says that we will "contribute to prosperous, productive agriculture by enhancing the income and well-being of farmer members...by providing them with a dependable source of sound, constructive, and market-responsive credit and financial services..." Our loan officers and financial services representatives strive to meet the needs of the customer, as well as the association's needs.

Like the other three values, we also apply this value both internally and externally. Relationships are not only important with the customer, but also with each other as employees. Working together, teamwork, cooperation and caring for each other as individuals (and as members of families outside Farm Credit) are important aspects of our culture. Both within the organization and with our customers.

Where does "relationships" fit in the list of values? Integrity is still the #1 value. Relationships come next, ahead of competence. This line from a PricewaterhouseCoopers advertisement says it best: "Customers don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." (Thanks, John, for suggesting this line.)

The list of values is now: integrity, relationships, competence, entrepreneurship.

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Farm Credit Fellow - Coral Kent-Dennis

Coral Kent-Dennis spent her week as a Farm Credit Fellow in our Newport, VT office. Her brief bio is below:

I am originally from Marlboro, VT. I got my first experience working with dairy cows at the Putney School, where I went to high school. I am currently going into my senior year at the University of Vermont. For the past three years while at UVM, I have been a calf feeder at the UVM Dairy farm. In the Fall and Spring 2007 semesters, I did the CREAM (Cooperative For Real Education in Agriculture Management) program at UVM. During the second half of the program, I managed the Ovsync and breeding of the 34 CREAM cows, allowing me to gain valuable experience in reproduction and genetics. In the Spring semester of 2008, I attended the Miner Institute. This summer I worked for Genex as a summer intern breeding cows in Addison and Franklin County. It was a great way to meet producers and get involved working in the dairy industry. I enjoyed seeing the different methods of production used by each of the individuals I met. My future goals are to work in the dairy industry in either dairy cattle nutrition or reproduction. I have really enjoyed my week at the Newport Farm Credit office.

Farm Credit Fellow - Asa Manning

Yankee had the pleasure of hosting four Farm Credit Fellows this summer. Below is a short bio on Asa Manning, who completed a one week internship in the White River Jct. office last week:

This past summer I lived in Oconomowoc, WI and completed an internship on the Koepke Dairy Farm. They are a 320 cow dairy farm that is owned and operated by three Koepke brothers, David, Jim and Alan, and Jim's son John and his wife. I worked on all aspects of the cropping and shop work as well as constructed a new barn to house dry cows in. I spent a great deal of time erecting fences around pastures by the new dry cow barn. I will be graduating this spring from The University of Vermont with a bachelor's degree in animal science and I am also a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. I was born and raised in Strafford, VT and grew up on a diversified dairy farm where we generally milk between 30-40 Jersey cows. We also raise pigs, chickens, and turkeys, and have a maple sugaring operation. We enjoy raising oxen to log our land with and I have raised 2 pairs with my older brother. When I finish school, I plan to help run my family's farm part time while exploring options for added expansion to our business and possibly working on another dairy farm close to home. I have enjoyed my week here at Farm Credit and learned a lot about the loan process and the credit world.

Green Mountains, Greener Pastures

Ken Button and Morgan Greenwood participated in the "Green Mountains, Greener Pastures Tour" put on by USDA in the Randolph, VT area on August 19th. The tour's first stop was at Thunder Mountain Maple in Braintree. This was to promote energy efficiency improvements that they have made such as a Reverse Osmosis machine. USDA supports renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements by providing grants and loan guarantees to agricultural producers and rural small business owners through its Rural Development Renewable Energy for America Program (REAP).

The next stop was at Circle Saw Farm in Braintree which is run by Bob and Tay Simpson. The Simpsons have constructed a "bedding recovery unit" which separates the liquid from manure into a storage facility and sends the solids through the recovery unit and is then used as bedding for the cows. This unit has allowed the farm to produce some of their own bedding as well as bring their nutrient management plan into balance.

After a lunch at Allis State Park in Brookfield the tour ended at Neighborly Farms in Randolph Center which is owned by Rob and Linda Dimmick. The farm is an organic dairy and they also make organic cheese. Neighborly Farms is active in Vermont's Agritourism industry which USDA supports through their Rural Development Rural Business Enterprise Grants (RBEG).

Growing Places

"Growing Places" is a class for people interested in starting a farming operation who don't know where to start. Both in-person and online versions of this class will be starting soon. Click here for a registration form.

Growing Places is sponsored by the Women's Agricultural Network (WAgN) but is open to all.

Connecticut Valley Fair

One of the agricultural youth events that Yankee Farm Credit supports is the Youth Dairy Show at the Connecticut Valley Fair in Bradford, VT. This show is organized by Labette Page of North Haverhill, NH.

Thanks for the photo, and keep up the good work!

Empire Farm Days

The following post was written by Senior Loan Officer Marie Guay, of our Chazy, NY office:

The New York State Empire Farm Days were held last week in Seneca Falls, August 5-7. Originally called the Potato Field Days when founded in 1931, this event has undergone many changes including name, location and size. After 75 years, the show has never wavered from its original mission: to bring farmers in the Northeast the newest techniques and equipment available in agriculture.

Yankee Farm Credit in collaboration with Farm Credit of Western New York and First Pioneer Farm Credit, sponsor a booth at this event. The theme of the booth was “Equipping farmers to succeed.” The objectives of the booth were to promote Farm Credit’s commitment to agriculture “Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow.” Especially tomorrow by conveying growth and promise of Tomorrow’s farmers.


Farm Credit displayed three pedal tractors, each with a wagon, plow or cultimulcher. Individuals visiting the booth signed up to win one of the tractors with an implement. One name was drawn daily.

Many farmers from our area attended the event and had a chance to speak with me or one of the other Farm Credit representatives at the booth.

UPDATE: One of the tractor winners was Zachary Swyers of Peru, NY. Here is Zachary with Marie:

FUNDaFIELD

Last week on an airplane I met a woman from California whose 10th grade son helped found a nonprofit called FUNDaFIELD to raise money to build soccer fields in Africa. (It is easy to donate online if you are so inclined.) The slogan on the web site is "kids helping kids." The quote on the web site is from Nelson Mandela:

Sport has the power to unite people in a way little else can. Sport can create hope where there was once only despair. It breaks down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of discrimination. Sport speaks to people in a language they can understand…. [It is] probably the most effective means of communication in the modern world.

Isn't that so appropriate, especially with the Beijing Olympics currently underway?

Tocqueville on China

In an earlier post I wrote about Alexis de Tocqueville and his influential book Democracy in America. Democracy in America was published in two volumes: Volume 1 in 1835 and Volume 2 in 1840. The quotes in my previous post about New York were from Chapter V in Volume 1. The subject of this chapter is the importance to democracy of local administration (e.g., townships and municipal bodies) and the dangers to democracy of central administration.

In that same chapter, Tocqueville wrote a footnote about China. Because of my trip to China last fall, I found this footnote interesting. I quote it here in full:

China appears to me to present the most perfect instance of that species of well-being which a completely central administration may furnish to the nations among which it exists. Travellers assure us that the Chinese have peace without happiness, industry without improvement, stability without strength, and public order without public morality. The condition of society is always tolerable, never excellent. I am convinced that, when China is opened to European observation, it will be found to contain the most perfect model of a central administration which exists in the universe.

Tocqueville wrote during the Qing Dynasty. Volume 1 was published seven years before the first Opium War with Britain. (Brief history of China: through Mao and after Mao.)

To read the above passage in context, go here. The text to which the footnote is attached is on p. 77 and the footnote itself is on p. 89.

One World One Dream

The 2008 Summer Olympics open in Beijing on 8/08/08 at 8:08:08 PM Beijing time. That is 8:08:08 AM our time, also on 8/08/08. The Chinese are fond of symbolism, as I wrote about in this post last year. That post was about the Olympic emblem (Dancing Beijing) and the Olympic mascots (Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini).

The number 8 is also symbolic to the Chinese. It is associated with prosperity and confidence.

I wish confidence, prosperity, good luck and good sportsmanship to all the athletes, and to China as the host of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. May the Games be a success, and help to improve relationships between all people.

2008 Dairy Farm of the Year

Congratulations to Brian and Bill Rowell, owners of Green Mountain Dairy in Sheldon, on being named the Vermont Dairy Farm of the Year for 2008! Click here for a link to an informative press release about the Rowells and their entrepreneurial farm operation.

UPDATE: The Vermont Dairy Farm of the Year is also the Vermont winner of the New England Green Pastures Award. Below is the official photo (courtesy of Glenn Rogers):

From the news release dated 9/24/08 accompanying this picture: "Green Mountain Dairy of Sheldon, Vermont, was recently selected as the 2008 New England Green Pastures Dairy Farm award winner for the State of Vermont. Pictured left to right are: Tammy Rowell, Matthew Rowell, Megan Rowell, Brian Rowell, Dave Lane, deputy secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture; Nancy Rowell and Bill Rowell. The family received its award at the Sheraton Hotel in Springfield, Mass., during The Big E. The New England Green Pastures award is given every year to an outstanding dairy farm for each of the New England states. Celebrating over eight decades, The Big E is the region’s largest fair, with an outstanding lineup of agricultural competitions, exhibits and entertainment for all ages. The Fair continues through September 28 in West Springfield, Mass. For more information on The Big E, visit www.TheBigE.com." Yankee Vice President Mike Farmer also attended this reception.

Farm Credit Fellow - Andrew Wood

Last week Andrew Wood of Concord, Vermont was hosted by Mike Farmer and the St. Albans staff as part of the Farm Credit Fellows program:

Every Farm Credit Fellow is required to spend a week in an association office in the northeast. Each Fellow is introduced to the Farm Credit System and the daily activity in the office. Fellows are given hands-on experience in everything from meeting customers to analyzing financial data to real estate sales analysis.

This summer Andrew is working on his family’s 50 cow dairy in Concord. Andrew is part of the VT F.A.R.M.S. 2+2 Program. He attended Vermont Technical College for 2 years and is entering his senior year at UVM as an Animal Science major. He is a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity at UVM. Last summer Andrew completed an internship with the Lynwood Management Group on Synergy Dairy, a 1700 cow farm in western New York. On the farm Andrew managed fresh cows and served as a relief feeder. As of yet Andrew is undecided as to which direction he would like to take after graduation, but would like to run his own dairy someday.

This post was written by Kelly Langmaid. See also this earlier post for a description of the role that Kelly plays in the Farm Credit Fellows program. Thank you, Kelly!

Tocqueville on New York

Yankee Farm Credit does business in three states. Few will dispute that New York is the most bureaucratic of those three states. I was amused to learn recently that New York's reputation in this regard goes back at least 175 years.

In 1831-32 a young Frenchman named Alexis de Tocqueville toured the United States, visiting 17 of the then 24 states, including New York. (Itinerary here.) Upon returning home, he wrote the influential book Democracy in America. "It has been claimed that Alexis de Tocqueville wrote the best book ever about democracy and the best book ever about America." (source) This book is still widely studied and quoted today.

On the subject of bureaucracy in New York, Tocqueville had this to say:

In some States (and that of New York has advanced most in this direction) traces of a centralized administration begin to be discernible.

Tocqueville thought that too much centralized administration was a grave danger to democracy:

...I am convinced that democratic nations are most exposed to fall beneath the yoke of a central administration...

That was in the 1830s. I wonder what he would think today. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

To read the above passages in context, go here. The first passage is on p. 69 and the second is on p. 83.

Knoxland Farm

Last of four posts about farms visited on the farm tour in the upper Connecticut River Valley on Friday, July 18.

Our last stop was Knoxland Farm in Bradford, VT, owned by Paul Knox. This is a large dairy farm, one of the many dairy farms that make Vermont the most productive dairy state in New England. This was the only one of our four stops in Vermont.

Some years ago Paul sent Dean a bill for training Mike Farmer. I hope Paul doesn’t send me a bill for training the whole bus load! He did a good job with Mike, though, and we enjoyed listening to him talk about his operation (note that Mike is still paying close attention):

Handling the tires that are used to hold down the plastic sheeting on bunker silos is a tedious job. To make the job easier, Paul made tire carriers that attach to a front end loader on a tractor (in the background in the photo below):

All four of the farms that we toured are examples of interesting and successful entrepreneurial operations. Some think of entrepreneurship only in terms of starting a new business, or taking an existing business in a new direction. That description fits Hatchland Farm, Pete & Gerry's Organic Eggs and River House Hanoverians. They are certainly entrepreneurial operations, and very good ones. I think entrepreneurship also includes taking an existing business—for example, the business of producing milk that is of high quality but nevertheless still a commodity—and simply making that business better. That description fits Knoxland Farm, and the tire carriers are an example of Paul's entrepreneurship.

Two farming veterans, who were successful entrepreneurs before most of the people on the tour were born, Alfred and Paul’s father Les:

Thank you, Paul, for the tour and also for letting us park cars at your farm for the day.

River House Hanoverians

Third of four posts about farms visited on the farm tour in the upper Connecticut River Valley on Friday, July 18.

Our third stop was River House Hanoverians in Piermont, NH, owned by Verne Batchelder and Jeanie Hahn. We were first treated to a scrumptious lunch, arranged by April and Ruchel, with assistance from Verne and Jeanie:

Verne and Jeanie raise, import, sell and train German Hanoverian dressage horses—the type of horse in the Olympics. There are stalls for 30 horses, but most of the horses were away at a show. Here Verne explains the operation:

And Jeanie displays one of the horses who stayed behind:

The facility includes an indoor riding arena with rubber footing made from shredded tires:

Thank you, Verne and Jeanie, for taking time away from the horse show to give us a tour of your farm.

Pete & Gerry's Organic Eggs

Second of four posts about farms visited on the farm tour in the upper Connecticut River Valley on Friday, July 18.

Our second stop was Pete & Gerry's Organic Eggs in Monroe, NH. Gerry Laflamme and his son Jesse gave us a tour of the operation:

Pete & Gerry's organic eggs come from hens which are fed organic grain, are not treated with antibiotics, and which are housed in cage-free barns (with access to the outdoors when conditions are appropriate). It requires considerable automation to feed the hens and collect the eggs:

And it requires more automation to wash and sort the eggs and package them for sale:


The Laflammes obviously enjoy their work, and we enjoyed their sense of humor—which is also evident throughout their web site. I was particularly amused by the "chicken chat" section at the bottom of this page. I can attest that their hens are quite chatty!

Thank you, Gerry and Jesse.

Hatchland Farm

First of four posts about farms visited on the farm tour in the upper Connecticut River Valley on Friday, July 18.

Our first stop was Hatchland Farm in North Haverhill, NH—the home of "Wicked Good!" milk. Howard Hatch, his daughter Kris May and herdsman Denis Ward gave us a tour of this dairy farm and milk processing facility. Hatchland Farm produces milk from 400 cows, processes it on the farm, and sells it to home delivery customers as well as retail stores.

Kris said I could take pictures as long as I didn't take any of her! Here is Denis explaining the farm operation:


Inside the milk processing facility:

The home delivery customers, mostly in the Boston area, receive their milk in glass bottles. Below is the bottle washing machine, which hearkens from an earlier era. Howard is a whiz at taking equipment or buildings that other people would discard, and making them useful again.

We concluded our tour with samples of delicious Wicked Good! milk. Thank you, Howard, Kris and Denis.

Farm Tour

Yankee Farm Credit employees and directors toured several farms in the upper Connecticut River Valley on Friday, July 18:

Also joining us were former directors Claude Bourbeau and Ted Young, and Lori Staib of FPI (our relationship manager).

A big thank you to our hosts, and to April Smith, Ken Nelson, Jeff Temple and Ruchel St. Hilaire for organizing this tour. It was an interesting tour, with a variety of agriculture. The next four posts are about the four farms we visited.