The Billings Farm & Museum in Woodstock, Vermont is a national park where visitors can see a working dairy farm and learn about the history of American agriculture. It stands as a tribute to environmental leaders of their day, such as its namesake, Frederick Billings, who helped to make the farm a model of progressive farming and forestry.
Before Billings, the farm was owned by George Perkins Marsh, who is considered to be one of this country’s first conservationists, and is recognized for his book titled: Man And Nature, which was first published in 1964.
The most recent owners were the late Laurence S. and Mary F. Rockefeller who donated their homestead and 550 acres to what is now the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. (Mrs. Rockefeller was Frederick Billings’ granddaughter.)
These three prior owners made the farm and park a unique model of land stewardship. The forest has a network of trails to provide access (either hiking or cross-country skiing) to one of the oldest professionally managed woodlands in the U.S., having had over 150 years of forest management.
The Woodstock Foundation manages Billings Farm separately but in cooperation with the National Park Service. They share a visitor’s center where a history of the property can be seen in a film called “A Place In The Land” in an auditorium area, and another section features displays of historical farming implements.
Along with Jersey cows, children will especially enjoy the farm’s sheep, horses, chickens and oxen. The park hosts more than 55,000 visitors each year, and features many interactive exhibits and family oriented activities. It also serves as an educational field trip to more than 6,300 school children each year. There is a seasonal Dairy Bar and a museum gift shop.
A Working Dairy Farm
Currently the farm is managed by B. J. Hanfield. The farm has 200 acres of “intense cropland” and 250 acres total. They grow corn silage, alfalfa and hay, and are able to provide all their own grain for the herd of 75 registered Jerseys, with 40 milking cows.
There are 100-foot buffer zones on the fields bordering the Ottauquechee River riverbank where just trees and bushes grow. They also have certain fields that are prone to spring flooding and used only for hay. They can get as high as 200 bushels of corn per acre, and averaged 140 bushels last year. A new upright wooden storage silo was built with from Alaskan Yellow Cedar.
The farm has raised all its own grain for 15 years, and spent under $60,000 for grain equipment and storage. The Billings Farm is both an educational farm for the public as well as striving to be an example of modern agriculture, and farmers are welcome to come for “behind the scenes” tours.
The farm once bottled its own milk under the name of Billings Farm, and some of their old bottles are on display in the dairy barn. The milk bottling operation was sold, moved to a new location, sold again and is now defunct. Moving into the tie stall barn, visitors will see trophies for their two-time All American, “Billings Top Rosanne”, a Jersey cow that sold for $72,000.
The herd average was 18,881 pounds of milk per cow in 2008. They had 34 cows score as “Excellent” in 2009. This is the oldest registered Jersey herd on a farm that’s still operating in the U.S. In 1893 the Billings herd was named the Top Jersey Herd at the Chicago World’s Fair.
Part of their mission is to farm with sound practices that protect the environment. They rotate crops, test soils each fall, compost the manure and use very little fertilizer.
Farm Schedule
The Billings Farm & Museum is open daily, May 1 through October 31, weekends November – February and daily during holiday weeks. Admission is $12 for adults, $11 for seniors, $6 for children ages 5 – 15, and $3 for children ages 3-4. Members receive free admission.
The barns, exhibits and restrooms are handicapped accessible. Pets and smoking are not allowed on the grounds. A daily milking can be observed and begins at 3:15 p.m. Other special events include Christmas at the Farm, Winter Weekends, a Spring Farm Festival, and a Harvest Weekend in October complete with a barn dance and corn-husking contest.
Visit Woodstock
The village of Woodstock is a delightful place, with a covered wooden bridge in the middle of town, quaint shops and stately homes. The surrounding area offers skiing, golfing, fishing, hiking and plenty of sightseeing. For more information, visit the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce.
Sherry Williams - Sherry (Russell) Williams of Bay City, Texas grew up on a 200 acre farm in Vermont, where her brother still has horses, does haying, and ...
