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.
