On September 18th, Tullando
Farm from Orford, NH and Keewaydin Farm from Stowe, VT were honored at the New
England Green Pastures Program’s annual banquet. The farms were chosen as the
2015 Dairy Farm of the Year in their respective states. The objective of the
New England Green Pastures Program is: "To encourage a more prosperous dairy
industry in New England, especially through the growing, harvesting, storage,
and feeding of quality forage to attain excellence in herd production using
economic management of all farm resources." Kelly Richardson, Loan Officer
from the Derby branch, Liz Bayne, Business Consultant in the White River
Junction office, and Jesse Taft, a Credit Analyst also from the White River
office, represented Yankee at the award ceremony.
The New England Green Pastures Committee chooses
an “Outstanding Dairy Farm of the Year” from each of the New England states,
and celebrates the winners at its annual awards banquet held at the Storrowton Tavern on the grounds of the “Big E”
(the Eastern States Exposition) in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Though
originally started in 1947 as a challenge to find New England’s best
pastureland, the aim of the Green Pastures Program has shifted over the years.
Today, the goal of the program is to promote dairy farming in New England by
highlighting and honoring outstanding farms. Every year the program’s review
committee awards the “Dairy Farm of the Year” to an exceptional dairy farm from
each of New England’s six states. Farms considered for the award are judged on
a “total management” basis which includes a performance analysis of a farm’s
production and financial performance, as well as the farm family’s personal contribution to
the agricultural community.
The banquet began with an invocation by Carol Hodgdon, a
Green Pastures Committee Vice Chair. Victoria Maloch, a Future Farmers of
America (FFA) National Officer and student at the University of Arkansas, served
as the banquet’s guest speaker. She challenged the six Green Pastures award
winners to stay engaged with the next generation, and to pass along knowledge
and give guidance to the younger people who are interested in agriculture.
The winners were
presented with an award (an engraved silver milk pitcher) and were asked to give a short presentation about
their farming operating, their history, and what they consider to be the
“secrets of their success.”
The Tullar Family of Tullando Farm, Orford, NH
Tullando Farm was
heavily represented at the banquet. Three generations of the Tullar family were
in attendance, including Rendell Tullar, who led the farm’s presentation. The
Tullar’s showed the audience a promotional video that was made by Granite State
Dairy Promotion. The video showed the ins-and-outs of the operation at
Tullando, with particular focus on the farm’s robotic milking setup and the
family’s collective effort to stay current with the dairy industry and to adapt
accordingly. Tullando Farm was founded in 1956 by Rendell Tullar’s parents,
George and Barbara, who combined their respective surnames, Tullar and
Anderson, to create the farm’s distinctive name. Tullando milks 500 Holsteins
and crops around 500 acres of corn, 100 acres of alfafa, and 100 acres of grass.
L to R: Tony Kitsos, UVM Extension; Claire and Les Pike of Keewaydin Farm, Stowe, VT
Keewaydin Farm was
represented by Les and Claire Pike, who operate the farm with their children,
Suzi and Dan Pike. Les’ grandparents bought the farm in 1921, and the farm has
been operated by the Pike family ever since. They gave an in depth presentation
about their farm complete with a slideshow of photographs. The Pikes emphasized
the need for a farm to “find its identity,” describing how they worked backward
from an operation that was heavily diversified in the 1970’s with a sugarbush
and farm stand to the more streamlined and straightforward present day farm,
which focuses solely on finding better and more efficient ways to milk their
herd of 141 registered Jerseys. Keewaydin has a rolling herd average of 15,485
pounds of milk, 5.1%
butterfat, and 3.9% protein. Since 2010, the Pikes have operated an anaerobic
methane digester, which supplements electricity on the farm. The also reuse
the solids for bedding, which is uncommon on a farm of their size. Keewaydin
is the first Lamoille County farm to receive the Green Pastures Dairy of the
Year award.
Other
winners included Sidehill Farm (Hawley, MA), an organic dairy farm and yogurt
producer; Twinbrook Farm (Minot, ME), a 150 cow dairy that recently navigated a
generational transfer; Cottrell Homestead (N.W. Kingston, RI), a “Rhody Fresh” producer; and Beriah Lewis Farm (N. Stonington, CT), an 8th
generation dairy farm that was founded in 1791 and has been in continuous
operation ever since.
Yankee would like to congratulate Tullando
Farm and Keewaydin Farm on their Dairy of the Year recognition and for their
continued excellence in the field of dairy farming!
