On Friday, July 25th, Yankee employees, directors, and guests from CoBank toured a variety of farm operations in the Connecticut River Valley-- part of the territory of Yankee's White River Junction branch.
Under the cloudless sky of a beautiful summer day, the group traveled first to
Vaughan Farms--a family dairy operation in East Thetford, VT. Owners Pat Waterbury and Darren Vaughan gave a tour of their new free stall barn, which includes 4 robotic milkers. Pat and Darren built the 240 cow facility in 2013 and have had positive results with increased productivity and efficiency from their transition to robotic milkers.
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| The Vaughan's 2014 corn crop is looking great! |
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| Ken Nelson, Assistant Vice President of the White River Junction Branch, asks Pat to discuss the process of transitioning from a milking parlor to robotic milkers |
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| Pat shows a few of our directors some of the reports that he can generate with his new robotic milking system |
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Happy cows!
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| The robots in action! |
After saying goodbye to Pat and Darren, the group traveled just down the road to
Long Wind Farm, Inc, also in East Thetford. Long Wind is a large-scale organic tomato farm that focuses on wholesale produce markets, selling most of their crop to regional grocers while also maintaining a popular farm stand. All of the tomatoes are grown in greenhouses. Many greenhouses of varying sizes dot the Long Wind property.
Owner/Operator Dave Chapman, gave the group a tour of his facilities. Of particular interest was Long Wind's newest greenhouse--a large, state-of-the-art, Dutch-designed greenhouse that was erected recently by a construction firm based in The Netherlands. The greenhouse (shown in the picture to the right) covers over an acre of land, and features an automated roof cleaning system, advanced polymer and glass construction, and a ventilation system that can clear and change out the air in the greenhouse in less than 45 seconds.
After leaving Long Wind, the group crossed the Connecticut River and visited
McNamara Dairy in Plainfield, NH. The McNamara's are a 3 generation dairy farm, with many members of the family involved in the everyday running of the farm--which includes a dairy operation, a bottling plant, and a sugarhouse.
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| The group enters the McNamara Dairy storefront and bottling plant |
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| Tom McNamara explains the milk bottling process to the group |
McNamara Dairy bottles the majority of their milk themselves, selling a variety of milk and dairy products in their own store, as well as in dozens of stores throughout the region. Products include whole, 2%, and skim milk, heavy cream known for its exceptional density and turgid longevity post-whipping, butter, and a delicious and renown chocolate milk that is made with a locally sourced chocolate. McNamara milk is recognized by its distinctive bottles--thick and heavy glass containers available in several different sizes.
After touring the McNamara's extensive operation, the group settled down in front of the family's beautiful farmhouse and had lunch. The offerings included sandwiches made with ham and turkey from local smokehouses and farms, potato salad (also made from local produce), blueberry pies, and pints of McNamara milk!
The group finished lunch and thanked the McNamara's for their hospitality, and boarded the bus and again crossed the Connecticut River. The tour's last stop was at
Oak Knoll Dairy, LLC in Windsor, VT. Owners George Redick and Karen Lindbo, who have operated the goat farm for over two decades, led the group on a tour of their facilities.
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| In the milking parlor |
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| Goats are fed a pre-measured amount of grain via a chute |
Oak Knoll Dairy bottles and packages its own goat milk and yogurt. Their products are sold up and down the eastern United States, with one refrigerated truck delivering milk and yogurt all the way to Georgia! The group enjoyed taste testing goat's milk--both plain and chocolate--as well as the yogurt. Oak Knoll also sells a portion of their herd for meat.
Yankee would like to give a big thank you to all of the farmers involved with the tour, who graciously opened up their farms and offered excellent insight into their daily operations.Yankee would also like to thank all who attended, including our friends at CoBank. A special thank you goes to the White River Junction branch staff who helped to plan the tour. It was a wonderful day!
