When Earl Ransom was growing up, milking cows at his family's Rockbottom Farm in Strafford, there were 24 dairy farms in town. Now his second-generation family farm is the last one that remains in his hometown.
The hilly 600-acre farm has majestic views, lush pastures and about 80 cows, mostly of the Guernsey breed. Earl runs the farm with his wife, Amy Huyffer, and their four sons. Amy moved to the state to attend Vermont Law School. The couple met in 1999 and two weeks later decided to marry. In 2001 they began bottling their own milk in glass bottles and named their business Strafford Organic Creamery.
The cows have names like Larkspur and Pomegranate, and they spend 22 hours a day on pasture, getting milked twice daily. The couple's second-eldest son, Jackson Ransom, recently earned a degree in dairy farm management, and he hopes to take over the farm one day. The family is in the middle of the busy haying season, working 14-hour days.
In her latest episode of "Stuck in Vermont," Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger visited the farm on a Thursday afternoon to watch the bottling process, follow the cows from pasture to milking and talk to the family about farm life.
Sollberger spoke with Seven Days about filming the episode.
Why did you pick this farm?
Last week was the Dairy Issue of Seven Days, and I was trying to find a farm with an interesting story. Farmers are busy year-round, but haying season is an especially frantic time and I was having trouble getting anyone to call me back. Amy didn't return my call, but she did reply to my email.
Rockbottom Farm is unique for a variety of reasons. It's a former commune that was founded in the 1960s by Woody Ransom, Earl's dad. Strafford Organic Creamery uses glass bottles, which is unusual these days. There aren't many farms of this size that bottle their own milk. And Earl is one of three Black dairy farmers in the state of Vermont, according to 2017 U.S. Department of Agriculture census data. It was hard fitting all of the family's complex history into one short video.
Have you tried their products?
I am a fan of their heavy whipping cream during the holiday season, and I can't get enough of their decadent ice cream and chocolate milk. It really does make a difference to know where the milk comes from. I have seen the verdant pastures on which the cows spend most of their lives. The next time I enjoy their ice cream, I will be thinking of Pond and Cheerio and thanking them for their grassy diet and high butterfat.
If Vermonters decide they want to save small farms like this one, they will have to pony up and pay higher milk prices. At $7.99 a pint, this is not cheap ice cream. But I want this family farm to stick around, so I'm willing to pay more for its high-quality products.
I bought some of Strafford's strawberry ice cream before heading to the farm. I told the cashier where I was going, and he told me to "give them my love." Not because he knew them, but because he loves their ice cream.
The cows looked a little suspicious of you.
Earl was rounding up the cows on his ATV to get them headed to the barn for milking. I was trying to film them as they walked along the narrow path from their pasture to the barn. The views of the rolling hills and distant mountains are majestic from up there, and the parade of cows just added to the striking visuals. But every time I stopped to film them, they stopped, too.
Earl says cows don't like new things; they just weren't sure about me and what I was doing there. I got as far off to the side of the path as I could and tried to coax them along with whistles: "Come on, girls, let's go!" I definitely gummed up the works, and their walk home took longer than usual.
The views are amazing.
When I first drove up the steep dirt road, I was stunned by the landscape and lush hills. The dark storm clouds made the colors more intense and vibrant. The grass and trees were a variety of shades of bright green. Earl installed a row of large garage doors in the milking parlor that open to these stunning vistas. They almost look like landscape paintings. I wonder if the cows appreciate them while they are getting milked.
The Ransoms seem like a tight-knit family.
It was interesting spending time with a family who weave their everyday lives into time spent doing chores. Earl talked with Harley, their third son, about prom attire while Amy rinsed out milk buckets. Later, Amy cleaned the milking parlor equipment while Earl hosed down the floor. Their conversation sounded like that of any married couple, but they were working hard simultaneously. Memorial Day was coming up, and Earl mentioned that he rarely gets holidays off. Amy couldn't recall the last time they had a full week off.
They move quickly, and it was difficult to keep up with them. At first, Earl was milking alone because Jackson was haying. And the cows were still a little unsettled by my presence, so it took them longer to get into position. Jackson joined his dad later, and the two of them worked smoothly together. Later, they teamed up to wrangle a stubborn Holstein into place for her dinner.
I really enjoyed following Jackson and the cows out to pasture in the magical light of the evening and hearing what he had to say about farming. Talking to a motivated young person like Jackson gives me hope for Vermont farms. I understand the future of dairy farms in our state is complex, but I hope small family farms like this one can continue to be viable.
The Ransoms are a cohesive team and obviously enjoy spending time together, even when hard work is involved. I think all that comes across in their milk products, as well. Happy cows and farmers make yummy food.
The original print version of this article was headlined "Milking It | Meet the family running the last dairy farm in Strafford"
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Bio: Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger has been making her award-winning video series, "Stuck in Vermont," since 2007. New episodes appear on the Seven Days website every other Thursday and air the following night on the WCAX evening news. Sign up at sevendaysvt.com to receive an email alert each time a new one drops. And check these pages every other week for insights on the episodes.