Tag Archives: richlands

Meet the 2016 Fall Festival at Richlands Dairy Farm.

IMG_9030 (1024x683)

For the past two Octobers, the Jones family has hosted a weekend series of fall activities at their Dinwiddie County farm. However, the rest of the year, they are busy running their full-time dairy operation, which we covered in a previous story. We also wrote about their very first pumpkin patch in 2014.

As they enter their third annual on-farm Fall Festival, the Jones family is offering an array of family-friendly weekend activities including a pumpkin patch, a corn maze, a play zone with activities for children, farm tours, hay rides, a petting zoo, and concessions. The farm will host tour groups on weekdays throughout the month, and on selected evenings after dark, visitors can brave the farm’s haunted corn maze. Visitors can also spot Hermione, Ron, and Harry—a set of triplet Holsteins that achieved viral fame when they were born on the farm last fall.

IMG_9219 (1024x683)

IMG_9048 (1024x683)

In anticipation of the farm’s October 8th Fall Festival opening day, I met with Coley Drinkwater, TR Jones, and Brittany Jones on a busy Tuesday afternoon in between farm chores to find out what the family has learned, what has changed, and what is in store for agritourism this October at Richlands Dairy Farm.

Laura: So, you’ve been growing pumpkins for three years—what does it take to get a pumpkin patch ready between spring and October?

TR: Well, the first thing we’re trying to do is decide the size we want them to grow, so we’re basing that on the past fall.

Brittany: We purchase treated seeds. We keep moving planting dates back every year later and later, because they are ready so fast—faster than when they say they are supposed to be ready.

IMG_9302 (1024x683)

TR: In April we’ll start to disc and plow a field, and then two weeks later, we’ll disc it again, then make the mounds. We’re still hand-planting the pumpkins…which is getting worse and worse every year. [Everyone laughs] From the first year to this year, we’re planting about five times as many pumpkins. We jumped to three times as many this year just so we could start spraying them with the sprayer instead of the hand sprayer, because that’s just time consuming.

Brittany: Yeah, that’s terrible.

TR: And then hopefully it rains. We’ve had to water them every year. We didn’t water them a lot this year, since it’s finally started raining again. Then, it’s just getting them cut off the vine when they’re turning orange.

Brittany: Which is a chore. A huge chore, because you have to go in and find them, and then cut them.

IMG_9343 (1024x683)

IMG_9317 (1024x683)

TR: Yeah, and the first year, we planted them in June, June the tenth, and they were done so early. First week of September they were done. Last year we waited until July fourth, and this year we waited until July tenth—we planted about a third, and we planted the last two-thirds around the twentieth.

Brittany: We try to make them last longer for the customers so they’re not sitting in the field.

Laura: How much did you all plant this year?

TR: We planted about five acres. It’s by far the most diverse—this year we added white pumpkins, the warty-looking ones.

Brittany: Yes, warted pumpkins, and we added white gourds.

IMG_9345 (1024x683)

IMG_9165 (1024x683)

Laura: You’re embarking on your third year of farm activities. What are you offering this year? What have you added or changed?

Brittany: Well, Coley has added a bunch of stuff for the kids’ area.

Coley: Yes, because we’re finding that this is definitely family-centered. People are looking for some place to take their kids, so we’re trying to keep the kids’ area evolving, adding new things or sticking with things….the cottonseed pit is a big hit. We can never do away with the cottonseed pit. [Laughs] But my overall goal, I think, for the kids area is to do a different theme each weekend next year, so do a soil and water theme, get the soil tunnel in, maybe some vermiculture…really focus on soil. Maybe one we could do is what we grow in Virginia….One weekend, maybe do what we raise, so really focusing on the animals in Virginia, and then maybe do a weekend where we have a popup farmers market, so we’d feature Dinwiddie County, or Dinwiddie-Nottoway, and things that you can actually buy, and meet farmers—that would be pretty cool. I think I’m seeing the fall festival as more of a look at agriculture as whole, with a look at the dairy, but maybe start focusing on dairy more with spring tours in May and June, and really start to promote those. And June is our June Dairy Month Family and Farm Day, and really we really focus on dairy.

IMG_9198 (1024x683)

IMG_9228 (1024x683)

IMG_9239 (1024x683)

TR: I guess the question too is “What did you do different from this year?” so what are you all doing this year that is different?

Brittany: Well, we have the round bales, the fish game…

Coley: We have tic-tac-toe and the tires.

TR: And I imagine that stuff will stay consistent from year to year.

Coley: I will give a shout out to Farm Credit—this year they gave us three iPads to download the My American Farm games for kids to come in and play—it’s basically SOL learning-based games, so I’ve got a tent set up for kids to come in and do that. And then Brittany added the picture board this year and the “How tall this fall?” painting.

Brittany: We added a friendly red-and-white, and we added ducks and turkeys and some poults that I think we’re going to get this afternoon for the petting farm this year.

IMG_9119 (1024x683)

IMG_9156 (1024x683)

Laura: Are you doing many tours this year?

Coley: We are booked. This is the first year, starting this coming Monday through October, that we are booked, so we’ve grown a lot with our farm tours since the first year.

IMG_8953 (1024x683)

Laura: What types of groups come out for those?

Coley: Pre-K, kindergarten, church groups, and then homeschool, is mostly what we get.

IMG_8978 (1024x683)

IMG_8988 (1024x683)

IMG_8984 (1024x683)

Laura: Do you all have any commentary on what it’s like to run a full-time dairy and do this on the side?

[Everyone laughs]

TR: I haven’t made it home before 8:30 this week.

Brittany: It’s perpetually exhausting.

TR: From my side, it’s been backed up because it was so dry I couldn’t get in the field to do anything, and then it got so wet I couldn’t get in the field to do anything, so now I can finally get in the field, but I’m also supposed to be getting ready entirely for this, so now I just have too many things all at once.

Coley: It’s a lot of work.

TR: The weather didn’t cooperate. If the weather kinda spaced itself out, I’d be in pretty good shape. Now I’m sitting here doing audio commentary. [Laughs]

IMG_9151 (1024x683)

Brittany: Also this month, none of us get a single day off for the whole month, at all.

TR: Even on your weekend off. But I enjoy it on my weekend off. It’s basically like getting to go to a pumpkin patch on your weekend off. On your weekend to work, it’s rough, but on your weekend off, it’s not that bad.

Coley: But I think we’re all good about—even if it’s your weekend off, I’m going to go help Brittany do calves when we’re done, you know, because it’s a lot of work. I think this also creates a unique opportunity for people who come on the tours—like, we’re not done setting up today, and when the tour group got here, I told them that. I was very honest with them that the rain last week just really messed us up, we’re not done setting up, and we are also a working farm, so we have got to get the work done on the dairy farm. That’s got to get done first, then we work on pumpkin patch and corn maze stuff. I think that’s important for people to realize.

TR: For what’s going to open this Saturday, we started setting up not this past Monday, but the Monday before.

Coley: But then, lining up tours, I’ve been working on that since mid-August, kids’ zone stuff since mid-August—we may not be able to physically set it up because of the rain, but there was stuff in the works.

TR: Planning starts, gosh, all the way back in June—what we’re going to have, what we’re going to add…

IMG_8905 (1024x683)

DCIM100MEDIADJI_0008.JPG

Maze image courtesy of Richlands Dairy Farm

Laura: So tell me, what does it take to create a corn maze?

TR: People are very surprised that we still cut it with a lawnmower. You see so many articles now about how the precision planters will just—you know, you put it in, then you go and plant, and when it comes up, you have a corn maze.

Brittany: That is not how we do it. [Laughs]

TR: We actually have a 30” row planter, so we plant the field once, then we go back and plant it again so we get 15” rows, and then we just sit down and talk about design, and we basically turn it into a grid.

Brittany: And then TR takes his poly posts and marks his grid.

TR: I get some reference points, you know—so this year is an ice cream cone and says “Richlands Creamery 2017,” so basically, I did the bottom of the cone, the top of the ice cream, the top left of the letter R, the bottom right of the Y, and so then I know I have to have “Richlands” spelled by this point, I have to have “Creamery” spelled by this point, and I know how tall it is, then it’s just looking at the thing and saying “This cube equals 10 feet, so I need to take ten steps to get to this next point.”

Brittany: And then Hugh cuts it with the lawnmower behind you.

TR: And then Hugh follows me with the lawnmower, and then afterwards I’m like “God, I hope this is right,” and we get someone to come take a pictures, and so far every year, we’ve been like, “Oh, it’s not bad!” Letters are easy.

Coley: You count down and over.

TR: Yeah, it’s idiot blocks. But the ice cream cone, with swirls and stuff, that’s a little more. The first year, we did the cow faces, and that was—

Brittany: Rough. [Laughs]

TR: That’s a whole lot of just squiggling around. When we got done, they took a picture, and I thought “The first two look exactly right, the third one’s kinda….ehhhh, the fourth one isn’t bad, it has weird ears.” The other thing is there are no do-overs because you’re mowing the corn. And so we did a milk bottle last year and it was supposed to say “Milk the Good Life.” “The” was three letters so it fit easily, and when we did the “good,” we realized we’d scaled it a little bit wrong, and so we had the GOOD life—it was smashed in there! [Laughs] But you don’t get a chance to do it again, it’s a one-time thing

IMG_9263 (1024x683)

IMG_9284 (1024x683)

Laura: What’s been your biggest challenge with all of this?

Coley: Balancing the two—just the time commitment.

Brittany: Finding that sweet balance where you’re not neglecting anything on the farm but you’re also not neglecting anything on the pumpkin patch because they’re both our businesses and both need to be treated accordingly.

Coley: I would agree.

Laura: What’s been your greatest success or the thing that makes you the most proud?

Coley: For me, it’s the tours, where you’re actually sharing the dairy and what you do with people. So many people don’t realize what goes on at a dairy farm, so for me, that’s very satisfying, when people walk away with, “Oh that was really cool, I learned so much,”…So just being able to share that in general.

IMG_8943 (1024x683)

IMG_9019 (683x1024)

IMG_9068 (1024x683)

Brittany: Mine is the complete opposite. Mine is when we’re all said and done, we get to buy something we wouldn’t normally be able to buy. So I think this year we are buying a pasteurizer, right?

Coley: [Laughs] Okay, yes. Are we getting cow brushes?

Brittany: Yeah, a cow brush is essentially a luxury item, but because we did so well with the pumpkin patch last year, we can buy a cow brush, and this year, there’s been talk of getting a pasteurizer, and it’s things that make the farm every day easier and better.

Laura: That’s a cool side to consider because people don’t think of it like a business. They just think “Oh, they just do this pumpkin patch.”

TR: And it rolls back into the business. The thing that’s most challenging to me once this gets going—because it’s also harvest time—is getting home super late and not getting to see Hazel [Brittany and TR’s daughter] very much. Like the last ten days, I just haven’t seen her very much. And I like that—you know, I like that two hours of playtime before she goes to bed.  So that’s the challenge for me, getting through the day without being able to spend much time with family. But the thing I like, the biggest reward for me when it’s all set up, is that Hazel gets to go to the pumpkin patch every day for a month.

Coley: Yeah, she has the best playground in her front yard right now. [Laughs]

TR: We don’t get to go anywhere on the weekend, we don’t have time off, but we’re all also spending time together, and at the end of the day we’re tired, but we’re usually smiling about it.

IMG_9109 (1024x683)

IMG_9091 (1024x683)

Coley: I will say on a day to day basis, that’s my favorite. On that kill time between the pumpkin patch and corn maze and the haunted maze where we’re kind of cleaning up, finishing the barn stuff, getting ready for the next day, we kind of seem to congregate at concession or the kids’ area and there’s a few moments of “Ahhh.”

TR: And we share what was cool about it, you know, “Hey, did you all see the kid who was just over the top about whatever—the cows or the petting zoo?” Or you know, “We had a person on the tour who asked this question, which was a really great question.” Some people ask questions that you don’t think about and you have to answer for, and then for the next tour you have to roll them into your presentation because you think “People should know that!”

IMG_9134 (1024x683)

IMG_9098 (1024x683)

IMG_9070 (1024x683)

Creamery announcement and farm information: Richlands Dairy Farm is excited to announce that they are looking to add a creamery to pasteurize their own milk and to direct-market fluid milk and ice cream locally beginning in late 2017 into spring of 2018. Coley notes that the biggest challenge associated with the creamery is finding a location to build it. The family is working to raise 250,000 of the 1.5 million required to build the creamery.  For details about the upcoming creamery, the fall activity schedule, and farm updates, go to http://www.richlandsdairyfarm.com/https://www.gofundme.com/298acbdk , or https://www.facebook.com/richlands.dairyfarm/

I also caught up with Mike Parrish, Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent in Dinwiddie County, to discuss trends in agritourism in the area and the public value of operations like Richlands.

Laura: Why is agritourism important in this area? Are you seeing growth or changes in interest here?

Mike: It’s just getting off the ground here. It’s important because we’ve got a high urban area around here, so we see the potential to attract that urban population into Dinwiddie to take advantage of some agritourism opportunities….We have people moving into the community, because we are a bedroom community for Richmond and the surrounding area, and so we have people coming in with ideas—they bought a piece of property, and they ask “What can we do with it?”, and they’re looking to be profitable, so agritourism is easier for some of the part-time people to get involved with….As far as new trends go, the biggest thing is that we’ve got some artisans making things like soaps, getting their feet wet in the farmer’s market, and looking at expanding from the farmer’s markets. So the farmer’s markets have the advantage of teaching them a lot—helping them learn how to get in the business and how to market their product, and then they’ll expand. We’ve got a couple that are ready to expand and they’re looking to the county to help…I think some of the proposals by the board of supervisors in the past have made conditions more friendly for agricultural development and business development—that has helped. So Dinwiddie’s really a good cooperator—their administration is really positive about agritourism.

Laura: So in this area, we’ve got operations like Richlands Dairy Farm doing pumpkin patches, farm tours, things of that nature. What benefits do you see for the farms engaging in those types of agritourism efforts, and what are the benefits for people who visit?

Mike: I look at it two-fold. One, it’s profitable for the operation, like Richlands—they’re such a good tight-knit family, and they show how families run farms, and they show a positive image of agriculture and the benefits of having it. And those doing this….they have a good reputation, and they share a good image for the agriculture community, which I see as very positive, and then they’re teaching at the same time, believe it or not. They’re telling what they’re doing. People take some of those practices back to their home gardens—it’s harder for them to replicate it, but I think it spawns interest in agriculture, especially the places that draw the kids out. The kids get to see that kind of career, so I think agritourism does a lot more than just bring money to the county. It helps share the positive image of agriculture.

IMG_9027 (1024x683)

Laura: How does Extension factor into this equation locally?

Mike: We get a lot of calls in the office each year, so it’s good that we’ve got resources in Extension that we can go to. Of course due to all our other responsibilities I can’t focus on agritourism by myself as a sole job, and you can’t either, but it’s nice that we’ve got people like Martha Walker [Extension Specialist—Community Viability], and Martha’s got her connections, so we have these go-to people and we have other agents around who have even more agritourism in their communities that we can call and talk to……so I think Extension—our network of resources—is a benefit to producers, and if they see the big farmers working with us, then the little ones want to work with us too and see the benefits. We’re all going for that same goal of staying profitable and using the land for ag. Within Dinwiddie, we’ve had meetings jointly—we’ve held a couple agritourism programs with the county and tried to encourage it, and we advertise all the neighboring start-up business programs, like efforts with Virginia State University, so we try to be a partner as much as possible.

Laura: Any parting advice for people who might be considering an endeavor in agritourism?

Mike: Niche agriculture and agritourism still face the same challenges that row crop production does. It’s not going to be peachy every year, so they need to build in the type of management structure that can handle environmental issues with the weather, or seasonal changes. It’s not like having a business that can be open 24/7 or run 9-5 all the time, so I think that’s an eye-opener for some of the people that get into it. It’s farming. It might be just a pumpkin patch to you, but to get to a pumpkin patch, it’s farming. It’s not just a business that pops up all of the sudden, and that’s what I think a lot of people who come out to agritourism operations don’t understand—how much work it took to get to that point. It’s actual farming. It might not be huge farming, but it’s farming.

IMG_9118 (1024x683)

IMG_9051 (683x1024)

IMG_9046 (1024x683)

Additional Resources for Readers:

SOVA Agricultural Experience (agritourism directory)

Virginia Cooperative Extension Agritourism Resources

My American Farm app and games

Meet the Pumpkin Patch at Richlands Dairy Farm.

 

IMG_4184 (1024x683)

We previously featured the Richlands Farm with a focus on the dairy operation. Click here to read the story. 

The pumpkin patch is a new addition to the farm this year, along with the two-acre corn maze. Both will be used in the farm’s lineup of weekend fall events, starting with the Family Farm Day kickoff tour on October 4th and ending with a Zombie Maze Run and Haunted Maze.

IMG952599 (2) (1024x682)

Photo courtesy of Richlands Dairy Farm

Like many farms in the area, Richlands Dairy Farm has been a family-run, conventional dairy operation for years. However, the family has taken a leap into the growing world of agritourism. The fall festivities, most notably the Family Farm Day tour, bring consumers onto the farm to learn about agriculture directly from the people who produce food. In a world where most people learn about farming from television or the internet, the Jones family finds this venue for real-world education invaluable.

IMG_4259 (1024x640)

IMG_4242 (1024x683)

The Family Farm Day on October 4th will be a prime opportunity for visitors to see the milking parlor, learn how dairy cows live on a day-to-day basis, and help the dairy feed their baby calves. Throughout the rest of October when the pumpkin patch, petting zoo, hay rides, and corn maze are open, visitors will get a view of the crops, cows, and pastures that sustain the family operation.

IMG_4153 (1024x683)

IMG_4167 (1024x683)

“Agritourism,” the formal name coined for this type of endeavor, helps operations like the Jones’ dairy to diversify their farm income stream. An estimated 500 farms in Virginia engage in agritourism, and although many rely on traditional methods—pumpkin patches, corn mazes, you-pick, wagon rides, and petting zoos—many new agritourism efforts utilize out-of-the box options like wine tastings, movie screenings, farm chore experiences, and crop harvesting parties.

IMG_4260 (1024x683)

IMG_4177 (1024x679)

A recent state-wide study of agritourism across the state found that most operations are concentrated along route 81, and that proximity to consumers plays an important role in the viability of these operations. Although there are relatively few agritourism opportunities in Southside Virginia, Richlands Dairy is well-situated for the new fall endeavor because it is located near a major metropolitan area and is a highly-visible fixture along route 460, thanks to the recognizable cow-shaped farm sign next to the road.

IMG_4197 (1024x683)

IMG_4179 (1024x683)

IMG_4246 (1024x683)

The Richlands Dairy Farm corn maze

Like other brand-new agritourism ventures, the fall functions at the Jones’ farm have required extra planning, time, and resources. The corn maze was challenging to design from the ground and the pumpkins required special management for pests and diseases. The family is still working to set up their corn pit and petting zoo for visiting children and finalizing plans for a concession stand. All in all, the Jones family is not sure exactly what to expect on opening day. Nonetheless, they are excited about the way things are coming along, and according to Brittany Jones, a love of all things fall-related helped inspire the pumpkin patch idea in the first place. With a little luck, lots of planning, and some beautiful fall weather on the way, the hard work spent creating something brand-new at Richlands Dairy Farm will pay off when visitors step foot on the farm and join the family for some fun this October.

IMG_4168 (1024x684)

IMG_4227 (1024x652)

IMG_4169 (1024x683)

IMG_4214 (1024x684)

Additional Resources for Readers

Richlands Farm Website and details on their Fall Farm Festival and Richlands Dairy Farm Facebook Page

Richlands Dairy Farm Twitter

Overview of Agritourism in Virginia

Specialty Crop Profile: Pumpkins

 

Meet Richlands Dairy Farm.

IMG_1155 (683x1024)

Like many farmers in Southside Virginia, the Jones family had been growing tobacco since the 1700s, but all of that changed three generations ago when Ray Jones came back to the farm after spending some time in Tazewell, Virginia. He renamed the farm “Richlands” after a town in that county and decided that dairy farming was the future of the family. Ray still lives and works on the farm with his wife, Shirley. Today, he is joined by his son Hugh and daughter-in-law Tracey, along with his granddaughter Coley, grandson Thomas who graduated from Virginia Tech’s Dairy Science program alongside his wife Brittany, and several other members of the Jones family.

IMG_1060 (1024x683)Located in Blackstone right along the county line between Dinwiddie and Nottoway, the farm is one of few remaining in the region. Most of Virginia’s dairy production takes places in the Shenandoah Valley, west towards Franklin County, or down in Southwest Virginia. 

Nonetheless, Richlands shares some common traits with dairies in these more distant areas. The milking herd consists of about Holstein 230 cows. The farm now milks twice a day like most other producers, although at one time the cows were milked three times per day.

IMG_1054 (683x1024)

Cow line up to get milked on both raised sides of the parlor; the milking staff stands at eye level with the machines while they are on the cow (above). Unlike most parlors, some of the milking system is housed in a basement below the parlor (below). The milk is cooled and stored temporarily in a bulk tank before pickup (bottom).

IMG_1056 (1024x683)IMG_1098 (1024x683)

Unlike most dairies, parts of the parlor’s milking system are housed in a basement below the parlor, making for a much quieter milking experience for the cows and farm staff working upstairs. Cows that are brought in for milking only spend ten minutes or less with the machine attached before milking is completed and they are able to walk back to the barn to eat, drink, rest, or socialize.

IMG_1110 (1024x683)

Cows may freely choose to walk to this end of the barn to eat the ration that is delivered to them.

IMG_1105 (1024x683)

IMG_1101 (1024x683)The barn for the milking herd at Richlands is also rather unique. In contrast to a traditional barn which is usually long with open sides with one or two long feed alleys and a middle row of raised stalls with dividers where cows can lie down, the “pack barn” at the farm consists of a high, light roof and a large, open, rectangular bedded area where cows can lie down to rest wherever they please instead of choosing an individual stall. The cows are walked from the barn to the adjacent parlor area at milking time. To eat, the cows walk to the feed aisle, stick their heads through an opening, and eat a mixture of silage, hay, grain, and other feeds that is specially formulated with the help of a dairy nutrition consultant. Ration formulation for milk cows requires precision and a deep understanding of digestive physiology and animal nutrition. Too much or two little of certain nutrients can cause the cow to drop in milk production, lose weight, or get sick; too many unnecessary ingredients can drive up costs.

IMG_1121 (1024x683)

This handful of “TMR,” or “total mixed ration” for the cows, primarily contains forages such as corn silage and hay. Grain and other feeds may be added to create a balanced diet that meets the nutritional demands of a lactating cow.

IMG_1143 (1024x684)The consultant helps the farm keep the ration in balance while juggling changing ingredient availability and costs. Main ingredients like corn silage, hay, and triticale are grown on the farm. Sometimes the ration can contain ingredients like soybean meal, beet pulp, or brewers grains, which result when raw grains and other items are processed for other purposes, but these “by-product feeds” are excellent sources of nutrition for cattle and have the added benefit of preventing waste. Contrary to the belief that milk cows are only fed grain, cows require a high level of forage in their diets, some of which they obtain from corn silage and hay in their feed and some of which they eat when they are let out to graze on available pasture. The growing heifers, which will join the cows after they are old enough to have calves, spend nearly all of their time grazing, as do the “dry cows.” Each cow at Richlands is given a “dry” period of about two months during which she is not milked. This gives her udder a chance to recover and rebuild and allows her to rest as she prepares to have her next calf so that milk production begins again.

IMG_1064 (1024x656)

IMG_1127 (1024x683)When a calf is born at Richlands, caretakers ensure that it receives colostrum, the first milk containing antibodies from the cow, within a few hours. Although some farms opt to keep calves in stalls or hutches with individual exercise areas, Richlands uses a group housing system where all of the calves eat, rest, and socialize together in large pens. The calf barn is kept clean and freshly bedded to reduce the chances of disease. Calves are very curious and quickly learn to recognize that humans are the bearers of milk. As they grow larger, they learn to eat forages and grains and eventually transition to a new area of the farm where they are able to graze with other older heifers. To increase efficiency and enhance the effectiveness of their calf nutrition program, the Jones family is considering the possibility of using an automatic feeder in the calf barn that tracks and regulates each calf’s consumption and allows them to drink multiple times throughout the day.

IMG_1123 (1024x683)IMG_1070 (598x1024)In a region of Virginia dominated by soybean, wheat, barley, beef cattle, and tobacco production, dairying has become rare. It is even rarer to find a dairy that has adapted to changing times and changing technologies like Richlands has. The family has also willingly become a knowledge resource to the community in recent years by allowing students to visit for field trips and loaning out calves for agricultural education events in the area, and the farm employs some local teenagers who are able to gain valuable work skills.

Ray’s original dream for his family when he returned to the Virginia farm was right on track. Dairy really was—and is—the future for the Jones family, and anyone who has met them can see the legacy they are creating. But even to passing drivers on 460 who will never meet Ray, Shirley, Hugh, or anyone else from the farm, the cutout wooden farm sign in the shape of Holstein cows on the end of the driveway serves as a reminder that the food in the grocery store comes from families across the state who have a lifelong passion for farming.

IMG_1156 (1024x683)IMG_1144 (1024x684)IMG_1083 (1024x683)Additional Resources for Readers:

Virginia Tech Department of Dairy Science

VT Dairy-home of the dairy Extension program

Answers to Common Questions about Dairy Farming

Dairy Farming Today-FAQs about dairy farming

Virtual Dairy Farm for kids