Farmers work to bring grains back to Vermont

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(Host) Up until the late 1800s, Vermont was known as the "bread basket" of the region.  But in the early 20th century, grain growing began to taper off, as production became cheaper and markets opened up in the Midwest. 

Now some farmers are working to bring back grains like oats, barley and wheat on farms in Vermont. 

VPR’s Sarah Ashworth has more.

(Ashworth) The number of farmers growing grains in Vermont can be counted on your hands.  Just 500 acres are planted with wheat, compared with 40,000 during the state’s heyday. The numbers just aren’t very big.  But that doesn’t dissuade Heather Darby, an agronomist with University of Vermont Extension Service. 

(Darby) "The majority of the grain grown in the state is for animal feed, and a much smaller portion is grown for human consumption, but that’s starting to change now that we have this increased demand from consumers for locally made products."

(Ashworth) Jack Lazor is one of those farmers who is working to meet that consumer demand.  Lazor runs Butterworks Farm in Westfield, and he’s been growing grains there since 1977.  He’s consistently upped his acreage, though he says he has yet to really make any money at it. 

(Lazor) "If we didn’t milk cows and have an income from processing milk, myself, I don’t think I could make a profit.  So, our yogurt business definitely pays for my grain habit." 

(Ashworth) This week, Lazor has been out in the fields, beginning to harvest his wheat.  But it’s what has to happen next that Lazor says can be so expensive and difficult. 

(Lazor) "You can get a grain out of the field, but the next step is getting a grain ready for human consumption.  So, if you’ve got oats, you’ve got to remove the hull, requires a huller and an aspirator and a separator, and then you have to steam them, and flake them.  So, it’s not easy, and certainly places in the Midwest where they do millions of pounds of grain, they’ve got it all set up, so we really need infrastructure."

(Ashworth) Darby is working with farmers to help develop that infrastructure.  She and Lazor say they would like to see something like community supported grain processing, where customers chip in to buy a huller, and help offset expenses.  But even with the expense, Darby says it’s worth it for farmers to begin investing in grain crops as a way to diversify and provide directly to Vermonters.

(Darby) "It was pretty obvious that it started to get tough back in the 1800s, and hard to compete on a national, and now a global scale, so Vermont doesn’t really have any place in that type of market.  But, as a locally grown product for other locally grown goods, there’s a place for us." (18 seconds)

(Ashworth) Darby says it’s local demand for Vermont grains that will be what ultimately drives the grain market in this state, and determines whether or not Vermont ever makes it back to those 40,000 acres it once saw in the 1800s. 

For VPR News, I’m Sarah Ashworth.

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