Firsthand look at farm is best education

When our two sons were younger, we sent them off to a summer camp and the rest of the kids there asked them ‘why on earth are you here?’

Our sons are named Tom and David, but really it was more like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Behind our dairy farm sits the Green Mountain National Forest and in front is the White River. They played in our big, old red barn that has a huge hayloft and a roof swing. There is a family of kittens, chickens running around, a tractor to drive, so between being able to explore the woods and river and the barn, they had everything they needed right here.

When they got back from that camp, they said ‘mama, don’t do that to us again!’

Our town has about 1,000 people and yes, everybody knows everybody. But we get some of our biggest rewards from getting to know total strangers who we welcome to our home. About 23 years ago, we decided to turn part of our home at the farm into a bed and breakfast. Little did we know that we were actually creating an educational destination for people who never have had the opportunity to see a working dairy farm.

People come from all walks of life and from all over the world: New York, Florida, California, Norway, Sweden, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand. They come and they appreciate the opportunity to visit a farm and be a part of our family. It has become something that we truly treasure.

We know the realities and hard work of being dairy farmers. We know that there are days when it’s not real fun. But you have people visiting who say ‘thank you so much for letting us visit your farm and letting us meet your cows and to be a part of your family.’ They thank you for what you do as a farmer and are really interested in what it takes to produce the milk they drink and the cheese that goes into their cheesecakes. It helps us remember to stay focused on what it is we’re doing.

We always gather with our guests at dinnertime and the discussions surely have changed the last few years. We used to mostly answer questions about the basics of dairy farming but now people want to discuss international food policy, government controls, pricing, our farming practices to a greater depth … you name it.

I feel very strongly that farmers need to be aware of their role and responsibility to answer questions, no matter how tough they may be. It’s important to the future of our industry. We look forward to continue doing our part in keeping dairy the great industry that it is.