Choosing to Farm: New Generation Stories

By Jennifer Colby

Stories and interviews by first and returning-generation farmers and ranchers about why they’ve been attracted to farming or ranching for their livelihoods.... more

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FAQs about Choosing to Farm: New Generation Stories:

How many episodes does Choosing to Farm: New Generation Stories have?

The podcast currently has 62 episodes available.

Choosing to Farm: New Generation Stories episodes:

September 05, 2024 Kate Sabino Learns From Experience
It was in the middle of high school that I really started to carve out an interest for myself in and seek experiences in
agricultural production of some fruit and veg, some small livestock. I remember having a conversation with my college counselor about “I'm interested in this, like, where should I look?” She mentioned some of the top agricultural schools in the Northeast, like UVM and UNH, but that was where the conversation ended. It wasn't, “This is what these programs will have to offer you and this is how they can really open your world and help you see all the different paths that might be before you.” I was pretty sure I wanted to farm. I wanted to really be in on the ground in the day-to-day operations of production.—Kate

Since 2015, Kate has worked on nine dairy farms in five states throughout the Northeast. Fascinated with different dairy farming systems, she has sought experience in an array of production models: conventional, organic, certified grass-fed, dairies shipping to a commodity market, and dairies directly marketing raw milk products. She has also pursued work in food and agribusiness with her most recent off-farm roles being in supply chain and agricultural sciences at General Mills Inc. She tries to bring a ground-level and a survey-level perspective to everything she does.

As the Assistant Manager at Wolfe's Neck Dairy in Freeport, Maine, Kate loves stewarding the land, the herd, and the
apprenticeship program. Kate also boards her own grass-fed Jersey cows here, which she hopes will support the dairy’s transition to an increasingly pasture-based model. She truly enjoys working in a place that centers learning
at the heart of its mission.
Kate Sabino email

Wolfe’s Neck Center website

New England Grazing Network web site

More educational and transformational offerings from Jenn Colby

Choosing to Farm Patreon link

Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm!

The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
...more
1h 11min
August 27, 2024 Carrie & Brent Wasser Balance Relationships
I remember…doing some chores one day with the pigs and thinking, “I don't need anything other than this. Everything is whole and complete as I do this work here with these animals. –Carrie

You start with lambing and move through into lactation and then we start processing and so being able to manage the
farm in that integrated way. Being able to really understand the performance of the animals and their health and how that relates to the quality of the milk and then how that milk is transformed into our finished products. Having that kind of oversight is special--surprising.—Brent

Carrie & Brent Wasser run a sheep dairy in the Hudson Valley of New York. They produce sheep's milk yogurt and bottled sheep's milk in their on-farm creamery, and raise pastured lamb. They came to farming in their late 30's/early 40s after careers in journalism (Carrie) and food production (Brent). They met each other on a farm in New England, and
talked about their mutual interest in livestock farming on the very first night they met.

Willow Pond Sheep Farm email

Willow Pond Sheep Farm web site

Willow Pond Sheep Farm Instagram

Green Mountain Girls Farm website

Charlotte Smith podcast

Northeast Pasture Consortium web site

More educational and transformational offerings from Jenn Colby

Whole Human web site

Choosing to Farm Patreon link

Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want
to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
...more
56min
August 20, 2024 Sarah & Kenny Jensen Stay Upright
We might not see the payoff of the things that we're doing here…but the legacy we're leaving for someone to walk
in behind us, that's really important.—Sarah

For me, especially having a job for so many years where there were a lot of days when you wake up and you go, “Man, I really don't want to go to work today”… that really doesn't happen anymore. I wake up every day ready to go. We're working, we're doing what we love together. You can't beat this. –Kenny
Kenny and Sarah are the proud owners of Berry Brae Farm located in Central New York. They specialize in raising high
quality Berkshire Pork, White Dorper Lamb, seasonal turkeys and chickens.

Berry Brae Farm email

Berry Brae Farm web site

Berry Brae Farm Instagram

Berry Brae Farm Facebook

Northeast Pasture Consortium web site

Sylvanaqua Farms Instagram

Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site

NOFA Vermont web site

More educational and transformational offerings from Jenn Colby

Whole Human web site

Choosing to Farm Patreon link

Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
...more
52min
August 03, 2024 Emily Virzi & Rose Thackeray Pivot From Italy to Vermont to Union Brook
“I think a lot of people seek out farm and food jobs because they're looking for something profound and they don't even know what it's going to be until they get there.”—Rose

“Every year on the farm is so different. It really is. It feels every year we have different bandwidth for different things and we're improving all the time and making more bandwidth in some areas and losing it in other areas.”—Emily
Emily and Rose both grew up in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. Their paths crossed in 2015 while working at Maple Wind Farm in Huntington, VT. Rose and Emily have been a team ever since that first summer and have dedicated their life to creating community around nutritious and delicious food starting a small poultry operation together in 2017. The purchase of Union Brook Farm was the culminating event that allowed Emily and Rose to begin advancing their pursuit of those dreams.
They are now in their 5th season of farming pasture raised broilers, layer hens + sheep with pigs in the forest. They also offer a farm stay through Airbnb should you want to come experience first hand their version of paradise!

Union Brook Farm email

Union Brook Farm web site

Union Brook Farm Instagram

New England Grazing Network web site

Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site

NOFA Vermont web site

Intervale Center Farm Business Program

WWOOF web site

More educational and transformational offerings from Jenn Colby

Whole Human web site

Choosing to Farm Patreon link

Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
...more
1h 1min
June 22, 2024 Hannah & John Doyle Front Load Hardship
“Raising animals is heavy. Even when it goes really well, it's heavy. And when you have losses, like we have had in the last couple of years, it changes the math -- even the finances of it. Okay, yeah, we lost money because we lost so many hens, but what we also lost sleep and tears and to wake up and go out and have a hundred chickens killed in one night--that happened to us once--and it just is so devastating.”—Hannah

“To know that food is not a product that you buy at the store and food is not something that is made by a company and branded and marketed to you, food is something that comes from the earth and nourishes your body. That's more important to me than whether or not [our kids] decide to operate a farm.”—John

Boneyard Farm is a labor of love. Hannah and John began on a small farmstead on ten hardscrabble acres in northern Vermont. They scaled up in 2021, purchasing a former conventional dairy. With the help of the Vermont Land Trust and the farm’s previous owners, their 180-acre property is forever conserved as working agricultural land.
Hannah Doyle runs the day-to-day business of the farm and the vegetable operation. John is behind the scenes on infrastructure and maintenance, and he manages the rotational grazing and animal health for their livestock. He builds all the things and fixes all the problems. Two young boys, Reuben and Dimitri, help out on the farm and provide tons of laughter.

Boneyard Farm web site

Boneyard Farm email address

Boneyard Farm Instagram

Boneyard Farm Facebook

New England Grazing Network web site

Janet McNally’s Tamarack Farm web site

Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site
More educational and transformational offerings from Jenn Colby

Whole Human web site

Choosing to Farm Patreon link

Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm!
...more
1h 10min
April 29, 2024 Robert Friedman Raises Poultry Intentionally
I came into farming really, as I got into it, being like--I'm a grower. That's where I want to grow my expertise; how to be a better caretaker for these animals, how to be more efficient with my time, with the land that we're using. To lean on people who are in processing, lean on them because their resources, their expertise are in processing or on the kosher side, lean on those people who really know what is required for it, bring them in and have them apply their expertise. The growth for me has been really needing to not just understand those other pieces much
more, but also get much more directly involved.

Robert Friedman is the founder and owner of Robariah Farms. Located in the Connecticut River Valley of Western
Massachusetts, Robariah Farms specializes in local, pasture-raised, kosher-certified poultry and other meats.

Robariah Farms raises slow-growing poultry breeds that thrive on pasture. Sustainable pasture management practices, including daily rotation of mobile shelters, provide animals with continuous access to fresh pasture, sunlight, and clean air, supporting healthy, vibrant life.

For processing, Robariah Farms applies an ethical, humane framework through its kosher certification. Local, kosher supervising agencies oversee the slaughter, plucking, evisceration, salting/brining, and packaging of each animal, certifying a higher standard of quality for the meat.

Robariah Farms offers CSA meat shares directly to customers, as well as wholesale discounts to food co-ops, farm stores, caterers, and institutions across New England.

Robariah Farms email address

Robariah Farms Instagram

Robariah Farms Facebook

Top 7 Quotes of Gene Logsdon Youtube

New England Grazing Network web site

Christine Jones soil health tour link

Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site

More educational and transformational offerings from Jenn Colby

Whole Human web site

Choosing to Farm Patreon link

Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation
livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally
in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
...more
1h 14min
April 24, 2024 Justin Bramhall and Vanessa Rose Are Part of the Solution
The occasional summer I would go to Arkansas for a few nights when my family would make the trip out there from
Dallas, Texas, they would only stay for a short period it was my aunt and uncle's Chicken farm. They were conventional growers for Tyson. It was a fun time out there, but I do remember thinking this is an enormous amount of hard work. My aunt and uncle never get to leave this farm and there's one thing I know for sure. And that's--I don't want to be a farmer.—Vanessa

Chickens can't be productive without a grain implement. The other thing is a lot of our farmland needs a lot more nutrients in the soil. This is an input into the system, but the intention is that this input is helping make our soils
more productive and more regenerative over time so that we can support more ruminant animals on a given land base. Hopefully that will help the farm be more productive and profitable and sustainable. —Justin

Our names are Justin and Vanessa and we're first generation farmers with a passion for healing our environment. Justin has a background in permaculture
design and education, and Vanessa is a graphic designer and marketer. We use our past experiences daily to grow our farm, and to help refine our customers understanding of regenerative agriculture, organic growing practices and how they can positively contribute to healing our food systems. We pride ourselves in providing high quality, fresh and healthy food from the land in a way that benefits the environment.

We deeply value our community, which makes our work rewarding, but we know food producers are facing some serious challenges (because of ongoing climate change) and we want to help face those issues head on. How our food is farmed can either add to the destruction of our
planet or it can do the opposite- creating abundance and resiliency across our communities.

Leaping Bear Farm email address

Leaping Bear Farm website

Leaping Bear Farm Instagram

Leaping Bear Farm Facebook

Vermont Land Trust web site

Real Organic Project

Vermont Farm & Forest Viability Program website

New England Farm Link website

Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust website

2022 USDA Ag Census website

New England Grazing Network web site

Christine Jones soil health tour link

Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site

More educational and transformational offerings from Jenn Colby

Whole Human web site

Choosing to Farm Patreon link

Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation
livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally
in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
...more
1h 10min
April 20, 2024 Bruce Hennessey and Beth Whiting Level Up Their Business
It feels good that we're providing this product for people's nutrition, for their families. They keep coming back to us
and appreciating that. We are who we are; we're the face, we talk to them, we have them to our farm for tours. That's what people are looking for.—Beth

We both have a full time job figuring out how to move this business forward that that you can't get done if you're picking eggs and putting down bedding in the layer houses or fulfilling orders. Can't do it.—Bruce

Beth Whiting and Bruce Hennessey are the co-founders and co-owners of Maple Wind Farm, a diversified pasture-based farm and USDA processing plant located in Richmond, Vermont.

Maple Wind Farm email address

Maple Wind Farm website

Maple Wind Farm Instagram

Maple Wind Farm Facebook

Pasture Pet website

Vermont Land Trust web site

USDA Poultry Plant in a Box video

New England Grazing Network web site

Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site

More educational and transformational offerings from Jenn Colby
Whole Human web site

Choosing to Farm Patreon link

Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
...more
1h 20min
April 13, 2024 Bruce Hennessey and Beth Whiting Climb Mountains and Diversify
I describe farming as really just one long extended expedition. It's very much like a mountaineering expedition where you wake up every day, you're working outside. You have problems, often new problems that crop up at least weekly. It's very much like being in a big mountain expedition where you're constantly working with the weather. You're working with the people on your team. You are focused on a goal. That takes all of your effort that you really have to commit to a hundred percent.—Bruce

It's very similar to being at a camp in a way, because we're managing people; a lot of young energy, a lot of people that need training and direction and they're coming to work on our farm,…and a lot of teaching. –Beth

Beth Whiting and Bruce Hennessey are the co-founders and co-owners of Maple Wind Farm, a diversified pasture-based farm and USDA processing plant located in Richmond, Vermont.

Maple Wind Farm email address

Maple Wind Farm website

Maple Wind Farm Instagram

Maple Wind Farm Facebook

Grit by Angela Duckworth

New England Grazing Network web site

Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site

More educational and transformational offerings from Jenn Colby

Whole Human web site

Choosing to Farm Patreon link

Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally
in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
...more
1h 11min
April 06, 2024 Haley Goulet Educates Her Community
Watching them [kids] come to the farm; at first, it can be quite challenging. There is definitely an arc of sort of comfortableness just with being outside doing chores, hard manual labor. That takes a minute for a lot of kids to adjust to. But as they adjust, it's so cool to watch them come out of their shells.--Haley

Hello my name is Haley Goulet, I am a livestock manager at a community farm and work to educate the public about livestock farming. I am passionate about teaching folks about the origin of their food and continuing to learn the best ways of ethically raising meat.

Haley Goulet email address

Haley Goulet Instagram

Haley Goulet LinkedIn

Natick Community Organic Farm website

Natick Community Organic Farm Facebook

UMass Amherst ASCI website

Trustees of Reservations website

Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) Model

New England Grazing Network web site

Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site

Your Transformation Story link—Click here to learn more!

Whole Human web site

Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
...more
55min

FAQs about Choosing to Farm: New Generation Stories:

How many episodes does Choosing to Farm: New Generation Stories have?

The podcast currently has 62 episodes available.

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