BLUE
PRUCE
FARM
a member of Cabot’s Dairy Collective
er of Blue Spruce
n family farm in
ride themselves on
comfortable and
t for their cows,
reatures of habit.”
aim in taking care
em “a comfortedictable
environthrive.
They like
lar schedule. The
milking parlor on
e to the farm and
d to watch them
ice and quiet,
do it because it’s
d it feels good to
ed cows and 1,500
generates a
f manure. With
nergy technology,
erts the manure
affectionately
The energy
nure not only
undreds of houses
munity. To do
nneled into a conbic
digester, where
ethane fumes to
hen powers a
generator. The plant fibers are then
separated from the manure and recycled
to make bedding for the cows and Magic
Dirt plant fertilizer. The remaining liquid
nutrients are recycled back in the soil,
where they help to grow the next season
of crops on the farm.
Blue Spruce Farm is also adapting new
practices that help to reduce erosion,
improve soil health, protect water quality,
and reduce reliance on the weather due to
climate change. The farm’s effort to
maximize efficiency and to curb
ecological impact means they now plant
cover crops in the winter to help reduce
soil erosion and to curb potentially
harmful phosphorus runoff. The impact
of this program has been measured on
a regional level. According to Marie,
“Vermont’s latest Clean Water Initiative
annual report shows that 97 percent of
the phosphorus reduction in the Lake
Champlain watershed has been a result of
agricultural conservation practices.”
Blue Spruce Farm is one of the many
remarkable farms that make up the larger
Cabot dairy collective. Marie Audet
explains, “Our Cabot farm families are
diverse, but what we all share is a fierce
pride in our Cabot products.”
PHOTO COURTESY BLUE SPRUCE FARM