Green Pastures Award

Hyde’s Dairy Farm Named 2022 CT Outstanding Dairy Farm for New England Green Pastures

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Hyde Dairy owners and employees with two cows in front of the farm signHyde’s Dairy Farm LLC in North Franklin is the 2022 Connecticut Outstanding Dairy Farm. Owner Dave Hyde and his team will be recognized at the New England Green Pastures award ceremony at the Eastern States Exposition in September. Dave’s father, Harry, helps wherever needed, Samantha Hoffman is herdsman, and there are also three part-time employees.

Dave and Harry purchased the farm in 2006 and converted an old barn into a step-in parlor with six units and automatic takeoffs. They are currently milking 55 cows and are producing 4,000 pounds of milk per day with an average 4.0% fat and 3.2% protein. Their somatic cell count is under 100,000, an indication of the high-quality milk.

Hyde’s Dairy Farm is a member of Dairy Farmers of America and keeps about 10% of their milk for Hyde’s Dairy bottling efforts. They started bottling milk because of consumer interest in locally grown in 2021. Milk is bottled at Terra Firma Farm Creamery in North Stonington, an on-farm state certified milk processing plant.

A variety of flavors are offered, including chocolate, coffee, strawberry, orange cream and caramel. Hyde’s Dairy also produces yogurts (plain, vanilla and five flavors fruit on the bottom) and seasonal eggnog. Products are sold at 13 local farmers’ markets and stores. Hyde’s Dairy offers online ordering with Barn2Door to deliver milk, meat and more direct to consumers at home. Their tagline is #milkoneverydoorstep.

“Bottling our own milk has given us the ability to donate chocolate milks to many community events and our local 4-H group,” Dave says. “We also supply milk for the Terra Firma Farm Give Gallons program, which purchases milk from local farms, pasteurizes and bottles, and then donates to the local soup kitchen. As a FFA alumni I truly believe in the future of farming and have given calves and cows to 4-Hers whenever possible.”

Cow comfort is very important at Hyde’s Dairy Farm. They use a bedded pack barn with open side feed alley, three giant fans, and cow brushes for scratching. The farm is feeding a ration with alfalfa, silage, beet pulp and straw.

The herd started with Holsteins and Dave started adding other breeds since they started bottling their milk. These include Brown Swiss, Jerseys, Linebacks, and Guernseys. The farm keeps their registered, higher genetic calves to raise and sells the other heifers to local farms.

Hyde’s Dairy Farm LLC has 130 acres. Of these, 70 are tillable and he rents an additional 30 acres for corn. The farm uses no-till seeding and custom silage harvesting.

Dave has also owned and operated a livestock transportation company for the last 20 years. It currently has four trucks that move cattle to market in the northeast. They work with many other farms in Connecticut to pick up, haul and broker livestock.

Congratulations to Hyde’s Dairy Farm LLC on their selection as the 2022 Connecticut Outstanding Dairy Farm for the New England Green Pastures award ceremony at the Eastern States Exposition in September.

Learn more about Hyde’s Dairy Farm at hydesdairyfarm.com/ and the New England Green Pastures program at thebige.com/p/agriculture/ne-green-pastures.

Article by UConn Extension; photos courtesy of Hyde’s Dairy Farm

Hannan Holstein Farm is CT Dairy Farm of the Year

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Chris and Todd Hannan in front of a John Deere tractor
Chris and Todd Hannan

We are pleased to announce that Chris and Todd Hannan of Hannan Holsteins Farm are the winners of the Connecticut 2019 Dairy Farm of the Year for our New England Green Pastures Program.

The two brothers milk 50 registered Holsteins, half of which are Red and White Holsteins, with a total of 140 head of young stock and mature cows at their rented facility in bucolic Woodbury, Connecticut. Todd and Chris got their start in agriculture with 4-H sheep and beef projects. When the brothers were in high school, the first Holstein heifers arrived at their property in Southbury Connecticut, coming from their uncle’s farm.

Todd graduated from Cobleskill College and he interned at Adirondack Farms in Upper State NY and worked at several areas dairy farms, including Arethusa farm. Chris graduated from the University of Connecticut and worked for Cargill Animal Nutrition overseeing nutrition programs on many farms in NY and Southern New England.

With that experience under their belts, Todd and Chris started their dairy operation ten years ago and developed an excellent herd of registered dairy cattle maintaining quality milk and excellent production. The brothers are members of Agri Mark and have been actively involved in the cooperative. They have focused on genetic progress and their cattle have place very high at area dairy shows. The brothers have demonstrated their skills at forage production, as well.

They farm approximately 350 acres that includes 80 acres of corn for silage and grain, with a portion as BMR corn. The rest is grown for haylage and hay and supports their supplementary hay business. They focus on efficiency of production and they are well known in the area for their excellent relationships within the agriculture area and also with community organizations and neighbors. They rent and manage nearby state land and they have truly benefited from their late father’s strong relationships with the Southbury Land Trust that rents cropland to the brothers.

Their continued stewardship of these public lands is a tribute to the brother’s sustainable approach to dairy farming. They have served on committees for several agricultural organizations and they have a strong passion for the dairy industry and they are truly a great example of the drive and the determination of the next generation of dairy farmers in New England. We are proud to recognize Chris and Todd Hannan as this year’s Connecticut dairy farm of the year.

Fairholm Farm: CT Green Pasture’s Dairy Farm of the Year

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Morin and Hermonot families with their cows in Woodstock, ConnecticutThe Green Pastures Award judging team has chosen Fairholm Farm as the Connecticut Dairy Farm of the Year, 2018.  The annual award will be presented at the Big E Green Pasture’s banquet where each New England state presents their winning farm.  The farms present a slide show of their management strategies and innovative goals that result in a successful dairy operation that will grow into the future.

Located in Woodstock, Connecticut, the farm team prides themselves on providing the highest level of care for their growing herd.  Enjoying a cool breeze flowing through the modern freestall barn, over three hundred milking cows relaxed as the judges discussed the changes that the four generations have made since the farm purchase in 1920.  Strawberries and racehorses, cottage cheese, and finally wholesaled high quality milk, are some of the products sold by the Barrett family, then granddaughter, Diane and husband, Todd Morin, and now their daughter, Erica and husband, Jon Hermonot.

The farm grows about eight hundred acres of corn silage and haylage, packing the harvested feed under plastic to ferment for year-round feeding.  The farm’s challenge is to keep the air and water out of the stored forage to reduce losses due to mold.  Todd wishes the crows, looking for corn under the plastic, would hang out somewhere other than the top of the silage pile.

The farm has seen many improvements in the last ten years, including the new barn, shop, and manure storage needed for an efficient dairy operation.  The most recent

adventure has been the installation of four “robotic milkers”, reducing labor costs as well as providing extensive computer data that allows the herd management team to know which cow is feeling great, and who may need extra care.  The new office is welcoming for the evening computer viewing, with a white board covered with cows to watch, benchmarks to reach, and goals needed to allow the farm to remain profitable despite the low milk prices.

The judges enjoyed an extended visit, as the four-owner team’s knowledge of herd health, crop production, and business economics, shared openly, resulted in many questions and follow-up discussions.  A beautiful day on the farm, with a progressive dairy family, happy to be there working together.

We are proud to welcome Fairholm Farm into the family of Green Pasture’s Award winners since 1948 when the New England contest first began.  The governor of New Hampshire challenged the other governors to find a better pasture than in New Hampshire.  Governor Dale lost his wager, presenting a top hat to Connecticut Governor McConaughy at the Eastern States Exposition in front of 6000 people.  Now each state chooses a winner, based on the overall dairy farm management.  Congratulations all!

Article by Joyce E. Meader, UConn Dairy/ Livestock Extension Educator

2013 Green Pastures’ Dairy Farm of the Year for Connecticut

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arethusa

The Green Pastures Award judging team visited three Connecticut farms on Friday, September 13, 2013 before making their decision to choose Arethusa Farm in Litchfield, Connecticut as the 2013 Dairy Farm of the Year.  The annual award is presented at the Big E Green Pastures’ banquet where each New England state presents their winning farm.  The farms present a slide show of their management strategies and innovative goals that result in a successful dairy operation that will grow into the future.

Located in the rolling pastures of Litchfield Hills, Arethusa Farm has a proud tradition of raising award-winning purebred Jersey, Holstein and Brown Swiss cows. The judges found that ‘cow comfort’ infiltrates the farm management at Arethusa Farm, where the farm team prides themselves on providing the highest level of care.  Wide open barns, tunnel ventilation, stall mattresses, comfy bedding, and quality feed in front of all animals is evident.  The team is knowledgeable and proud of the ‘girls’ under their care.

Arethusa Farm was established in 1999. Owners George Malkemus and Anthony Yurgaitis purchased the Litchfield, CT property with the intent of restoring the farmland once owned by the Webster family.  The Websters began “Arethusa Farm”, an all Guernsey herd, named after a rare wild orchid that grew in the back bogs of the property.  The intent of the new owners was to bring back the dairy roots, making cheese and bottling milk for sale to the local community.  However, as new barns were built and old ones remodeled, a new plan started to take shape. George and Tony became interested in the world of show cows.  Just a few short years later in 2004, Arethusa made history at the World Dairy Expo.  Farm matriarchs, Hillcroft Leader Melanie 3E 96 and Huronia Centurion Veronica EX97, were named supreme and reserve-supreme champion respectively. The pair are proven show-winners, have produced a tremendous quantity of high-quality milk and continue to be outstanding brood cows through their many descendants. These traits, combined with deep pedigrees, keep their family members and genetics in high demand to this day.  Offspring and genetics from these top quality cattle are sold throughout the world each year.  http://www.arethusafarm.com/farm/

Overwhelming show success fueled major growth on the farm. New heifer, calf and state of the art milking facilities were built, and the herd is now almost entirely home-bred.     A core of fifteen exceptional employees work hard with one core principle in mind — the cows always come first. When one enters Arethusa’s milk barn they are greeted by a sign reading, “Every cow in this barn is a lady, please treat her as such.” That philosophy is put into practice on a daily basis as the team focuses on the continued breeding and development of home-bred Holsteins, Jerseys and Brown Swiss.

The clean barn environment shows up in the high quality products sold as bottled milk, yogurt, ice cream, butter, and cheese at the dairy, local shops and restaurant.  The farm website provides a detailed flowchart of how the milk is processed into these different products.

The rations comprise as many locally sourced items as possible, including dry hay, corn silage, and grain mixes.  Other high quality feeds, like large bales of alfalfa and cotton seed, are located to complete the ideal feeding program.  Electronic feed carts distribute the total mixed ration to the cows in the stall barn, with a computerized system identifying each stall to which that cow is fed additional grain from an automatic DeLaval grain cart traveling by rail around the barn.  In addition to the inside ration, the dairy herd visits large pastures each day, staying clean on the engineered gravel laneways.

With the latest project of Arethusa Al Tavolo restaurant, featuring locally sourced items to complement the farm products, off to a great start, other ventures begin to take focus.  A new state of the art composting facility will process the manure from the barns under cover.  This compost will be bagged and sold to local gardening centers.

We are proud to welcome Arethusa Farm into the family of past Green Pastures’ Award winners since 1948 when the New England contest first began.  The governor of New Hampshire challenged the other governors to find a better pasture than in New Hampshire.  Governor Dale lost his wager, presenting a top hat to Connecticut Governor McConaughy at the Eastern States Exposition in front of 6000 people.  Now each state chooses a winner, based on the overall dairy farm management.  Congratulations all!