(Host) Vermont’s farm of the year award goes to Lilac Ridge Farm in Brattleboro. The Vermont Department of Agriculture says the farm “exemplifies the principles of sustainable agriculture, as it is a diverse, economically viable, third-generation farm with strong ties to the community.”
Farmer Ross Thurber says his operation includes dairying, sugaring and growing flowers and vegetables:
(Thurber) “The farm represents the resources that we have available to us. We have timberland that’s sort of on rolling hills, we have a fair amount of pastureland and hayfields, and also a little valley that has some flatland. So we kind of decided to utilize that land for the vegetable and cut flower production that’s a little more economically intensive per acre there. And then, you know, we haven’t tried to push the limits as far as what the land can produce.”
(Host) Ross Thurber of the Lilac Ridge Farm, winner of the 20002 Farm of the Year award.