The Power of Pulling Together

The success of dairying is often a reflection of hard work, mutual respect and everyone pulling together for a common vision. Tucked in the rolling hills of a quaint New England town, Fairholm Farm in Woodstock, Ct., a century-old farm’s recipe for success also includes technology and securing additional profit sources. 

Future Plans

When Erica Morin-Hermonot traded the Northeast for the Upper Midwest to attend college at the University of Wisconsin—River Falls, she was unsure of her future path, thinking no way it would be in the dairy industry. Although, spending time with fellow classmates with similar roots made her think differently and led to conversations about having her come back to the family farm, which she did, as the farm’s herdsman in 2007. 

“We weren’t sure how the farm was going to go,” Erica says, sharing that her farm’s facilities were dated. “We had another business running at that time and we weren’t sure if we were going to downsize or keep going with the dairy. Then, I decided to come back home.”

The family’s facility was originally set up for 200 cows, milking in a double-six, but in 2015 their neighbor sold out and their cows became available. The family decided to purchase those cows and milking occupied nearly 17 hours of their day.

“We actually had parlor plans drawn up,” Erica explains, but labor market challenges made the family reconsider. 

We liked the consistency that robots provided, along with the information. However, with no previous automation on the farm, the family knew this transformation would be a learning curve. 

Erica says the family jumped headfirst into automation and invested heavily in technology with cow activity collars, four DeLaval robots, a feed pusher and alley scrapers.

Today, Erica, her husband, Jon, and her parents, Todd and Diane Morin, are all managing partners in the dairy. In addition, the farm employs four full-time and two part-time workers. Fairholm is also in partnership with close relatives who also have a family dairy farm and they share ownership of farming equipment and work together with the cropping operation. They also grow about 800 acres of corn silage and haylage, and have made improvements to help hone in on efficiency over the last decade, including a new close-up barn, shop, and manure storage.

Challenges Ahead

Nearly 30 days after COVID hit, like many in the Northeast, Fairholm Farm was hit with a quota, and responded by selling 40 cows and looked at alternative revenue sources. This meant purchasing 20 pigs, which they would raise on milk and sell locally. 

After a string of challenging years, in 2021 Erica started a farm camp for kids, a long- time dream of hers.

Now in its third year, Farm Camp provides a landscape that allows children to explore and connect with agriculture. 

“Children learn all about the animals, land and teamwork it takes to care for a modern-day farm,” Erica shares. 

Woman Power

In 1920, Diane’s grandparents Ethal and Estella Barrett purchased the farm after he got out of World War 1 and after she graduated from Wellesley College.

“This was unheard of for women back in those days,” Diane remarks, sharing that her grandfather passed away at a young age. 

“Grandma just kind of took over,” Diane shares, explaining that her father George and his two sisters helped out, too. “My father finished high school and didn’t have to go into WW2 because of the farm, and his sisters took jobs off the farm, but always helped when they could.”

In 1958, George and Celia married, and the newlyweds began to build up the family dairy farm. Diane and her siblings grew up and also worked on the farm. After battling an illness, George passed away at the age of 64 and Diane felt compelled to continue.

“With Celia not knowing much about dairy, we stuck together to help out,” Diane shares. “Mom took on a new role and did jobs she never thought she could.”

While lending an extra hand is what farm families often do, Erica says her three children are now at the age where they can do more and help feed calves. 

“Should they choose this lifestyle, I think it's awesome to think that they could be the fifth generation,” she shares. “The best we can do is make sure it is a good business.”

The family shares that while the industry has certainly changed over the last 100 years, they never want the decision not to farm to be forced upon them.

“It is something that we came to terms with when we decided to reinvest in the farm,” Erica says. “We’ve tried to be very strategic about every decision we've made - whether it be robots, buying the neighbor farm or starting a new part of our business.”

Helping Hands

Despite working long days, the family also has been very involved in their local community. 

“My mother was a 4-H leader for nearly 20 years, along with being active in church and a director for our local fair,” Erica, who serves as her local fair’s Birthing Center superintendent, says.

The mother-daughter duo explains that having a solid structure around them and support from their spouses has allowed them to take leading roles on and off their family dairy. 

“We are reminded that even on the hardest days, we get to do this and there are some people who can’t anymore,” Erica says. “We’re very blessed that we have this opportunity.”

Working hand in hand, the Fairholm Farm family knows that their main key to success is pulling together as a family unit. They hope this will help them sustain their farm to its next mile marker.