Faces of Vermont Agriculture: New Video Series

I have farmed with my husband, Sam Burr, since 1979. We started with dairy, first milking registered Jerseys, and over the years, we’ve diversified our operation to include certified-organic berries, vegetables, and hay on our beautiful 285-acre farm, Last Resort, in Monkton, Vermont. We have also raised three children on this farm, which we call home.

As Sam and I plod toward retirement age, we made the decision to transfer the farm to our son, Silas. We are proud to have conserved our farm and the natural resources on it for future generations.

Our lifelong objective as farmers has been to care for the soil, water, and crops on our farm and to understand their connection to other farmers, our customers, and the wider environment. Through conservation, we can better meet the challenges of tomorrow – feeding a growing population and mitigating against a changing climate.

USDA has been a great partner in conserving natural resources and making other improvements on our farm. To that end, the guidelines of organic certification have been crucial, as have the irrigation, erosion control, and high tunnel projects we have worked on with the help of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. We are grateful for the technical and financial assistance and for the recognition of our efforts to do the right thing.

Recently, we worked with NRCS here in Vermont to produce a video about our farm and our conservation efforts. We are thrilled that our farm was one of those featured.

Although farmers feed everyone, we are such a minority of the U.S. population that our work remains mysterious to many. I am hopeful that this video series, as well as the other helpful resources at farmers.gov, will help everyone appreciate and understand the role of the American farmer.

Eugenie Doyle and Sam Burr’s Last Resort Farm was one of eight farms to be highlighted in the farmers.gov video series, “Faces of Vermont Agriculture.” NRCS in Vermont and Peregrine Productions produced this series.