We don't give a lot of tours on the farm; there just isn't enough time. However, I schedule one each year, "Pasture to Palate". Twelve people make cheddar with Shelburne Farm's cheesemaker, stay at the Inn and dine on local cuisine. Day trips include visiting other cheesemakers in the area - sometimes Willow Hill Farm in Milton, or the Orb Weaver Farm in New Haven. We've been an "other" for the past three years. The guide, Jeffrey Roberts (Cow Creek Ventures, Montpelier), brings the curious closer to Vermont value-added agriculture, and gives "wannabes" the chance to see different interpretations of workable scale in dairy/cheese production. This group seemed more subdued than the previous; I recall that some woman had insisted that there was a market for farm fresh tofu and we were missing this lucrative opportunity to process our own soybeans.
Today, visitors from both coasts expressed great interest about the colors and types of molds on the cheeses. All edible and perfectly natural, I said. During the dairy barn walk-through they made note of the bird netting that covered the ceiling. There are usually several dozen bird carcasses in various stages of decay caught up there, but thankfully, none to be seen that day. Possibly this was due to the bright sun, which made the barn seem darker by comparison. My husband Dan goes out of his way each year to be sure there are no unpleasant things around like "cleanings" (afterbirth) in the maternity pens, or freshly shot grackles dotting the driveway. Those are not the lasting impressions we wish to leave with those outside the farming community.
The tour was complete except for final questions as we exited the front of the barn where Dan's brother Denis and their father, Gilbert, were busily making preparations to pull down an old silo. (More about that, later). This was where a lady saw a black Holstein in a stall, curled up like a sleeping cat. I'd seen that position before, when a cow was tranquilized and sleeping peacefully - but something didn't look quite right. Better to keep the tourists moving along, so I said "Well that's the sleepiest cow of the bunch, today!" That seemed to satisfy all curiosity, as the impending destruction of the silo just outside the entrance became a topic of concern. The dry cow was dead, having expired shortly after morning chores.
The tour of the year piled into vans and headed next to the Orb Weaver Farm. Our attention turned toward the defunct upright silo; we have kept our feed in horizontal bunkers for the past fifteen years. I think that the silo system becomes dangerous after a certain age. I'm talking about the advanced years in service of both the structure and the person who has to climb to the top of it. It is interesting to note that recreational climbing walls have safety harnesses and support staff- yet any farmer can climb to the top of an 80-foot structure on rickety metal bars without the insurance companies threatening to pull their coverage.
