For Kate and Travis Fogler, nothing encourages loved ones to come home for the holidays like … cows.
Their home is Stonyvale Farm, a 4,200-acre, fifth-generation dairy in Exeter, Maine, that they share with 1,000 milking cows, about 200 dry cows and 800 youngstock. On top of that, they farm 2,500 acres of cropland, growing corn, alfalfa and grasses. And when relatives — and not just relatives — visit the farm for Christmas, inevitably they end up at the barn, with some bearing gifts.
“The holidays are always fun because some of our family members from farther away come to visit the farm, come to visit the calf barn — they just love to come see the cows and to reconnect with their roots,” Kate Fogler said. “And there’s always tons of goodies from the neighbors that end up at the barn in the break room.” For the rest of the Foglers’ story and others in our Farmer Focus series, check out NMPF’s Sharing Our Story page.
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