“Our motto is ‘Looking Forward since 1806.’ We strive to consider the earth and our community and to grow a more efficient and sustainable business,” explained Steven Barstow II, one of the four owners of Barstow’s Longview Farm in Hadley, MA.
Thomas Jefferson was president when Septimus Barstow established this family farm.
Today’s “hands-on” owners are Steven Barstow and David Barstow (both sixth generation) and Shannon Barstow and Steven Barstow II (both seventh generation).
But Barstow’s Longview Farm’s owners don’t take their dairy farm’s sustainability for granted. In the early 2000s, wide swings and an overall decline in milk prices forced the then-owners to strategize on how they could diversify the business without losing their focus on cows.
Their efforts have been successful: 85% of the revenue comes from their core business – the dairy side.
“We have 600 head, all Holsteins, 300 in the milking herd, and the remainder are youngstock,” said Denise Barstow Manz, 33, a seventh-generation family member who handles farm tours and marketing.
The then-owners’ first major step toward diversification was opening Barstow’s Dairy Store & Bakery in 2008 in a custom-built facility that seats up to 40 customers, explained Barstow Manz. A variety of baked goods are made on site; owner Shannon Barstow is both head baker and manager. Customers can order breakfasts and lunches at the counter and catering is available. Frozen farm-raised Angus beef cuts, goods from nearby Bay State farms and a full range of Cabot cheeses and other dairy products are also sold. Barstow’s is one of 1,000 members in the Cabot Creamery/Agri-Mark Cooperative.
Two eighth-generation teens work there part-time: Marjorie Horgan, 15, and Ri Horgan, 17. Other Barstow family members who work on the farm include Kelly Barstow (seventh generation) and her fiancé, Jean Curran, a store supervisor.
The dairy store/bakery did not grow out of an existing vegetable stand. “The crops we grow are to feed our cows – 50% hay and 50% corn,” Barstow Manz estimated. “Barstow’s owns 150 acres and contracts for another 400; we don’t have sufficient land on which to grow vegetables.”
Five years later, Barstow’s Longview Farm’s second diversification effort received a lot of attention when an anaerobic digester was installed on Dec. 31, 2013. In spring 2014, a member of then-Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration cut a ceremonial ribbon. The digester converts manure and food-based organic waste into renewable energy and fertilizer. Farm wastes are also combined with wastes from food distributors and food processors. Food waste also comes from large nearby institutions, including UMass Amherst, Smith College and Amherst College.
This digester, as well as one built earlier at another Massachusetts farm, was partially funded by Boston investor Bill Jorgensen, who also secured grants to fulfill his vision of “green” energy. After the anaerobic digester passed the start-up phase, however, the Barstow owners were responsible for its day-to-day operation and management, which was both time-consuming and distracting.
Much to their relief, in 2015 Vanguard Renewables of Weston, MA, where Jorgensen was managing director, purchased their digester and also expanded it, increasing its generating capacity to nearly 800 kW.
“Vanguard leases the land from the Barstow family, and it owns and operates [its storage tanks and equipment] and maintains the site,” explained Billy Kepner, Vanguard’s director of government affairs and community relations. “The digestate, which is a byproduct of the anaerobic digestion process, goes back to the farm for use as a biofertilizer.”
Approximately 30,000 tons of liquid effluent from the digester is used yearly for fertilizer.
“Barstow’s receives a credit for the electricity that’s generated,” said Kepner. “It also receives heat for its buildings from the process that is used to combust the renewable natural gas to make the renewable electricity.” This is unique to Massachusetts; in other states, renewable natural gas is generated as an end product.
Vanguard plans to construct 100 large anaerobic digester projects across the country.
“Barstow’s Longview Farm and the Barstow family are amazing stewards of the land, and their commitment to environmental preservation, herd health and the community is exemplary,” said Jennifer Forbes, Vanguard’s vice president of marketing and strategic initiatives. “We’re so proud to have them as a host partner for one of our Farm-Powered® anaerobic digesters here in Massachusetts.”
Denise Barstow Manz, who handles marketing for Barstow’s Longview Farm in Hadley, MA, is flanked by two of its four family farm owners: Steven Barstow II (left, seventh generation) and her dad, David Barstow (sixth generation). Photo by Edith Tucker
The Barstow digester also provides the Cabot Creamery/Agri-Mark Cooperative with the renewable energy it uses to produce dairy products, including butter, at its plant in nearby West Springfield, MA. Right now, Cabot’s 1-lb. butter box promotes Barstow’s Longview Farm, including a little wordplay: “Made with renewable energy? You butter believe it.”
In this closed loop system, dairy processing waste is shipped back to Hadley.
The anaerobic digester annually adds between $100 to $200 in revenue per cow and reduces operating costs – notably, electricity, heat, hot water and fertilizer.
Having one of the largest anaerobic digestion systems in New England in operation on their farm for a decade has made the Barstow family even more aware of the significant environmental and technological changes that are taking place. Barstow’s is committed to helping the public understand why it’s important to preserve the best soils, fresh food production on local farms and a caring community.
Barstow’s owners have adopted a no-till cropping policy and they’ve invested in new farm equipment specifically built to support that practice. This investment also aims to eliminate the frustrating breakdowns that go with using very old equipment. Barstow’s now does custom planting and harvesting for a number of nearby no-till farms.
Barstow’s owners have embraced the robots and automation that have transformed how cows are milked and calves and cows fed. Data are now collected automatically, reducing tedious work.
In the past, the accepted wisdom was to separate newborn calves with their developing immune systems into individual pens with hutches, but farmers today are encouraged to make socialization a priority. Barstow’s typically groups together eight calves, each tagged with an RFID chip in its ear, in its calf pole barn. Usually 30 calves are raised at one time.
Barstow’s owners invested in CalfExpert, an individualized, automatic calf-feeding system. When feeding, a calf employs a rubber teat that’s sanitized, inside and out, to reduce the spread of germs. An explanation of how calves are now raised is display in its retail store.
Barstow’s cows, all tagged with RFID chips, are fed every day by two Lely Vector automatic systems designed to provide cows with precise individualized feeding, 24/7/365.
“Robotic milkers were first introduced on the farm in 2014, and Barstow’s depends on five Lely A4 Astronaut milkers,” Barstow Manz said. “These changes have been game-changers for everyone who works with livestock.”
This story drew upon Laura Rodley’s story on Barstow’s Longview Farm published on July 18, 2014 in Country Folks.
by Edith Tucker
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