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Family-run farms in Maine are diminishing. Those remaining have found sustainability through new technology or increasingly popular organic methods. In an effort to raise public awareness, The University of Maine’s Page Farm and Home Museum’s conducted its second field trip to central Maine farms on Sept. 17. A dozen people were on hand to visit three farms and a potato storage facility and learn about modern industrial and organic methods.
Fogler Farm
First stop was Stoneyvale Dairy in Exeter. The farm is a modern facility boasting 600 dairy cows with plans to enlarge to between 800 and 900 by next spring. This two-generation enterprise is owned and operated by the Fogler family.
“There are currently eight family members working the farm,” said Kate Fogler, a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in animal sciences, “We sell our milk to Garelick Farms.”
The workday starts at 3:30 a.m., but gone are the days of hand milking. The Fogler farm employs technology in their dairy management. Twice a day the animals are herded in groups of 100 to 150, directed to each side of the parlor and connected to automated milking units. The cows wear a necklace with a built-in electronic chip that identifies the cow, records the rate and amount of milk production and sends the data to office computers where it is reviewed and analyzed.
“Cows give an average of 70 pounds of milk per day,” said Fogler, “When production falls below 10 pounds, the cow is checked for illness.”
The Fogler farm uses bovine somatotropin (BST), a bovine growth hormone, to increase milk production.
“BST naturally occurs in cows. We’re not giving them anything unnatural,” said Fogler, “just increasing what is already there.”
In addition to the dairy, fields of corn, hay and barley grow behind the barn. A multi-grain mix is fed to the cows, which reduces feed costs, but some of the crops are sold to nearby farms.
Smith Potato Farm
Smith Potato Farm in Corinna is a third-generation farm that produces potatoes for the Frito Lay chip industry. They have approximately 500 acres cultivated for potatoes and also grow corn that they sell for animal feed.
The current owner, Carl C. Smith, bought the farm in 1961.
“We harvest an average of about 18-trailer loads a day, which is approximately two acres of potatoes,” said Smith.
In the past, potatoes were stored and shipped unwashed to the processing plant in Connecticut. Today, farmers are required to wash the potatoes just before shipping, and the extra step increases handling and preparation costs.
Harvested spuds are stored at 55-degrees in climate-controlled bays. Each storage compartment holds 55,000 pounds of potatoes. If the temperature drops, the starch-to-sugar conversion changes and visible bruises are formed.
“The higher sugar content enhances browning and produces a better looking chip,” said Maryanne Smith of Sebasticook Packers, a storage facility. Potatoes are shipped to a processing plant in Connecticut between November and June.
Peacemeal Farm, Dixmont
The final stop was Peacemeal Farm in Dixmont, a certified-organic garden covering six acres. Because of hilly terrain, the Soil Conservation Service was consulted, and diversion ditches were dug to capture spring run off and stop soil erosion.
Diverse crops are raised using environmental-friendly, non-chemical methods. “We use about three miles or 15,000 feet of black plastic and the same amount of row covers” to protect warm weather crops such as tomatoes, melons and peppers from frost, said Mark Guzzi, a graduate of the UMaine Sustainable Agriculture Program. Crop rotation and cattle grazing are other conversation measures used on the farm.
The farm began operation more than 30 years ago and supplies Maine natural food stores with fresh organic produce. The growers also participate in farmers’ markets in Orono, Belfast, Camden and Northeast Harbor. Organic farming provides a livable wage because of greater latitude in setting prices, since people are willing to pay more for the high-end products. “I come in with the price that I need and keep it [throughout the season],” said Guzzi.
Consumers purchase organic foods that are grown and processed according to federal standards knowing exactly what they are buying. Regulations ban the use of biotechnology or irradiation in organic products that are grown without the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.
Organic farming is much more than just a set of rules. It’s a holistic approach to agricultural management that encompasses animal health and land conservation.
Page Farm and Home Museum
Built between 1860 and 1865, the barn housing the Page Farm and Home Museum predates the University and is the last agricultural building on campus. The museum is home to myriad household items and farm equipment that recreates rural life in Maine from 1865 to 1940.
The PFHM currently has “four buildings, a garden, an orchard and a new carriage house,” said Patricia Henner, museum director.
“In years past, annual Old Farm Days were held that offered statewide lectures and was an agricultural alumni tradition,” Henner said.
Now, PFHM provides field trips and workshops where people can reminisce and learn. The next tour, scheduled for April 2004, will tour a maple syrup farm.
Bangor Daily News