by Laura Rodley
HINSDALE, NH – The days might be getting colder, but there’s still wood to be cut to get ready for next spring’s maple sugaring season at Pelloni’s Farm Market. Maple syrup, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, winter and summer squash and jam are just some of the items that Greg Pelloni sells seven days a week at his family-run indoor seasonal vegetable farm market. (more…)
by Laura Rodley
CARLISLE, MA – Great Brook Farm was the first farm in Massachusetts to install a robotic milker. When they installed it, the design included cow traffic flow, two electronic sort gates and a large bulk tank. (more…)
by Laura Rodley
Despite pouring rain, 17 antique tractor enthusiasts hit the road during the third annual Franklin County Chapter’s Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation’s Antique Tractor Ride, covering 29.5 miles in scenic Western Massachusetts. The riders departed from and returned to Shelburne, MA. (more…)
by Hope Holland
Much of the East Coast has suffered an almost crippling amount of rain in 2018. This has resulted in loss of crops and livestock from extensive flooding, ruined bridges and homes and barns that have been underwater on multiple occasions. (more…)
by Elizabeth A. Tomlin
It’s a “buyers market.” Are you thinking of expanding your herd? Or maybe buying into an existing farm that has just come on the market?
You had better look twice. (more…)
by Ty Mason
When I was growing up we had beef cattle at home and bought the hay to feed them. I knew from that time that if I was going to go into farming livestock of any kind commercially, I was going to make my own hay.
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by Sally Colby
Darlene Leary of Wind Valley Farm in Oakham, MA, took a few minutes to talk about sheep during a break from preparing a selection of animals for the show ring at the Keystone International Livestock Expo (KILE) held recently in Harrisburg, PA. (more…)
by George Looby
On Sept. 7, 2018, a new milking system was dedicated at the Kellogg Dairy Center at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. This system is designed to make more efficient use of time, labor and cow comfort and represents a considerable departure from most of the milking systems now in place. For many of the readership, mastering the art of hand milking remains a vivid memory.
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by Courtney Llewellyn
AMHERST, NH – Hobbies are supposed to be small diversions from the everyday things most of us need to do. They’re supposed to be fun activities that help you relax or get in better shape or expand your knowledge. When you get into farming, however, you may end up with two full-time jobs. (more…)
by George Looby
There was a hint of autumn in the air as Celebrating Agriculture, held on the grounds of the Woodstock, CT, Fair, celebrated its 18th year of promoting agricultural activities in northeastern Connecticut. Those in charge were pleased with the turn out. (more…)
by Laura Rodley
SALISBURY, MA – When Eli Bartlett wanted to join a 4-H oxen club, there were no clubs near him. His aunt, Donna Bartlett, asked Mark Winslow, the leader of the nearest oxen club, which happened to be in Maine, if he could join. The answer was yes. (more…)
by Karen Van Wyk
In 1850, Miles Smith cleared the land at the top of a hill in New Hampshire and built his house, surrounded by 50 acres. After passing away in the 1880s, his daughter and her husband worked vigorously to get the farm back up and fully functioning by 1918. They maintained it until about 1948. They grew crops and had some cows and were self-sufficient. (more…)