A horse peeks out of its stall Sunday at Chirp Creek Farm and Eli’s Homestead during Maine Open Farm Day in Lisbon. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Before your milk is placed in your refrigerator, before it hits your grocery store shelves, even before it is chilled in big vats ahead of being packaged for stores — its life starts on a farm with cows. And if it came from Maine, there’s a good chance there was a farmer working very hard to keep that milk in production.
At Brigeen Farms in Turner, there are more than 1,000 dairy cows responsible for many local dairy staples including Canty Cow Creamery, just down the road from the farm. The farm is also one of around 70 in Maine that produces milk for Oakhurst Dairy.
The farm’s facility was one of more than 100 farms throughout Maine that opened its doors to the public Sunday for the 34th Open Farm Day.
Owner Betsy Bullard said for many, Open Farm Day puts local economy, environment and the welfare of future generations in the front of peoples’ minds as they shop for what they consume.
It’s an opportunity for families to see firsthand some of the work that happens before food hits the shelves at the store or farmer’s market.
Visitors tour the dairy barns Sunday during Maine Open Farm Day at Brigeen Farms in Turner. Betsy Bullard said the farm has been in her family since 1777. She is the tenth generation to farm the property. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
“Open Farm Day makes a nice, well-promoted day to say, ‘hey … let’s check out a farm and see where food comes from’ because it makes its way to the grocery store shelves, but that’s not where it starts out,” Bullard said.
Bullard said she most enjoys showing people the scope of how hi-tech farming is now. For example, all heifers at Brigeen Farms have Fitbits tracking each animal’s movements which allow her to see when an animal has strayed from its usual patterns and might need extra attention.
“Cows eat things that people can’t and they turn it into things that people can and they do it pretty efficiently when we do a good job taking care of them,” she said. “It’s a fun conversation to have (and) it’s all very tangible. I can feed an animal and know that in 24 hours that milk is going to be in the plant at Oakhurst and making its way to somebody’s shelves.”
Bullard said one of the agriculture industry’s challenges is exposing people to the work that goes into food production and is why Open Farm Days are so valuable to local farmers. Many of the presuppositions about farming do not align with what we could see for ourselves if we came out to learn all about it, she said.
Mary Beth Maloney of Turner and her granddaughters, Althea Maloney, left, and Nora Maloney, visit the dairy cows Sunday during Maine Open Farm Day at Brigeen Farms in Turner. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
“Some of the challenges have an awful lot to do with (asking), ‘What does that sustainability piece look like?'” she said. “For us, we like making sure we’re taking the opportunity to interact with folks to show them this is what we do … and if we want to have local food, we need to be participating with some of those who are (supplying) that.”
Ben Daley and Jesse Tannenbaum run the vegetable operations for Lisbon’s Chirp Creek Farm and this is the first year their farm has participated in Open Farm Day. Chirp Creek Farm and Eli’s Homestead make their way across the state to six farmers markets and serve around 40 Community Supported Agriculture members and around 100 Maine senior farm shares. Farms participating in a Community Supported Agriculture group allow consumers to buy a share or subscribe for fresh produce or other farm products usually on a weekly or monthly basis.
“We opened the farm up today to give people some time to check us out and to show the community we’re here for them, to build community,” said Tannenbaum.
Said Daley, “It’s exciting to be able to have people out here to see what we do and talk it up.”
Highlights at Chirp Creek included wagon ride guided tours around some 500 acres of hay and grain fields, vegetable crops, cattle and horses. Kids were invited to participate in a free-for-all tractor painting.
Ben Daley, left, gives Ella Mae Packard, Glenys Gardner, Amanda Beal and Bob Packard a tour Sunday of Chirp Creek Farm and Eli’s Homestead during Maine Open Farm Day in Lisbon. Beal is the commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Beal said that she tries to get to a different part of Maine during Open Farm Day each year. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
On the heels of a tumultuous season of heavy rains and a late cold snap in May, the sudden and extreme changes in weather and climate have increasingly been problematic, causing many farms to consider installing more greenhouses, Tannenbaum said. Carrots washed out and tomatoes slowed way down, adding to many other problems including planting and propagation being put off longer than anticipated, he said.
However, Tannenbaum and Daley both agreed that although the season has been tough, things are still looking up if the sun decides to stay out more often.
“It’s exciting to be able to have people out here to see what we do and talk it up,” Daley said.
Amanda Beal, commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, came out to Chirp Creek for a peek. She said Open Farm Day is a great way to get out and see the state.
“It is a wonderful way to … meet our farmers and see what great work they’re doing, maybe even try some of the things they’re growing,” Beal said. “It’s also really exciting to see a whole new generation of farmers on the land especially in such a historic location.”
Back at Brigeen Farms in Turner, prior to an ice cream tasting, Juliette Schopp, 5, from Greene said her favorite part of Open Farm Day was petting the calves. “The cows are very friendly,” Schopp said. “They’re cute and it’s funny when they lick you.”
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