Vermont Breakfast on the Farm returns on August 5, 2023, at Sunderland Farm in Bridport, VT. Since its inception in 2015, the event has welcomed more than 11,000 people to dairy farms across the Green Mountain State. Vermont Breakfast on the Farm allows you to experience life on a working dairy farm, meet the hardworking families who work 365 days a year to produce a nutritious product, and get your questions answered. This event is great for everyone – ages one to 101.
Explore five reasons to attend Vermont Breakfast on the Farm and reserve your free tickets before they sell out.
1. See firsthand how farmers care for their cows
Cow care is a top priority for dairy farmers. They work hard throughout the seasons to make sure their cows are comfortable, using sprinklers, cyclone fans, curtains, and other tools to help cows stay cool in the summer and warm during colder months. Others use foot baths, with help to disinfect and clean cows’ hooves. Sunderland Farm also has a cow-activated rotary brush, which serves as the perfect back scratcher.
2. Discover on-farm sustainability practices
Every day is Earth Day for farmers. Dairy farmers are incredible stewards of the land, water, and air. Practices like cover crops, buffer vegetation, and no-till and low-till farming help them with manure management and make sure our waters remain clean and healthy. Recycling is also an important on-farm practice. A gallon of water can be reused at least four times on the farm. Cows are the ultimate upcyclers. They turn food waste that humans can’t consume, like orange pulps and spent grain into delicious milk. One unique way that Sunderland Farm recycles is by collecting cardboard from the community, shredding it, and mixing it to make bedding.
3. Learn more about how farmers are embracing innovative technology
Farmers use innovative technology in a variety of ways across the farm. At Sunderland Farm, milking cows are kept in a free stall barn and robotic milkers allow them to be milked on their own schedule. Each cow wears a collar, similar to a Fitbit, which tracks how much they walk, eat, sleep, and other important information that helps improve individual cow and overall herd health. Sunderland Farm also has robotic feed pushers, which helps ensure that cows have access to fresh feed around the clock, and a mobile barn cleaner, which improves overall barn hygiene. In their calf barn, the Sunderland family use an automatic calf feeder, which provides unlimited access to prepared milk for good growth and development from calf to dairy cow.
4. Interact with calves and cows
The best part about Breakfast on the Farm is getting up close and personal with cows. Sunderland Farm is home to about 450 Holstein cows, meaning you’ll get to experience the herd at every age. On a recent farm tour, the event planning committee realized there’s never been a Breakfast on the Farm without a newborn calf arriving. Who knows … maybe you’ll get to experience it too!
5. Meet members of Vermont’s agricultural community
It takes a village to welcome 2,000 people to a working dairy farm. From the dedicated planning committee who work on nearby farms, in educational institutions, extension, dairy promotion, and more to veterinarians, cow nutritionists, hoof trimmers, and other members of the agricultural community, Breakfast on the Farm would not be possible without their support. Get to know more about them and their work when you visit each station on the self-guided farm tour.
P.S. – We’ll be bringing our Mobile Dairy Bar to Breakfast on the Farm again this year. After you enjoy your free, dairy-filled breakfast, be sure to stop by and try our fun flavor combinations.
