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Bar-Bet-Tom Farms Receives 2010 Green Pastures Award

October 1, 2010

Contact: Judy Blaisdell
207-287-3702

AUGUSTA—Bar-Bet-Tom Farms, owned by Tom and Beth Quint of Hodgdon, is this year’s Maine winner of the New England Green Pastures Award. The award is given every year to an outstanding dairy farm for each of the New England states. This coveted award is presented annually at the Eastern States Exposition (Big E) to an exemplary, economically sound, and efficiently managed dairy operation, representative of the best farms in New England. Nominees are evaluated on a number of criteria including their production records; herd, pasture, and crop management; environmental practices; contributions to agriculture and the local community; and overall excellence in dairying.

The Quint family took over a dairy farm started by Tom’s father and mother in 1975 with the purchase of cows and machinery and bought the farm in 1984. At the beginning, the stanchion barn housed 25 milking cows. In 1987, the first portion of the current freestall barn was built where cows were housed and fed with cows milked in the stanchion barn until 1994. The Quints are currently milking 120 cows twice a day with production averaging 73 pounds of milk per cow. The farm operates with 4.5 full-time workers producing over 2.5 million pounds of milk per year. The Quint family supports several organizations including the Hodgdon Baptist Church and Hodgdon Volunteer Fire Department.

The farm has seen many changes in the past 35 years. Improvements to the farm since that time were the construction of concrete bunker silos for feed storage, the construction of a double 6 parallel milking parlor in 1996, and manure storage in 1999 that was expanded in 2004. The freestall barn was increased in size to handle an additional 112 cows providing housing for bred heifers and dry cows along with the milk cows. Along with the improvements noted above, the Quints run a beef operation, as well as the dairy operation, backgrounding 125 animals per year for the Pineland Natural Meats Program. Housing for this part of the operation was accomplished with the construction of a three-sided shed and feedlot in 2004. The Quints are proud of their machinery and keep it in top condition in their farm shop, constructed in 2006. Heat for the house and farm is supplied by an outside wood furnace.

Tom is always looking for different ways to improve efficiency. This year he planted 98 acres of no-till seeding for barley, corn, and alfalfa. Combined with his conventionally farmed land of 140 acres of silage corn, 50 acres of grain corn, 30 acres of barley, and 200 acres of alfalfa forms the base of his feeding program. His cropping program supplies all of his feed needs except the protein supplement and minerals/vitamins that he purchases from a local feed company. He started growing grain corn in 2007 and has a 12,000-bushel grain tank and curing system for this part of the feed operation, alongside two 1,200-bushel barley bins.

Bar-Bet-Tom Farms received the award at the Big E on September 17, along with winners from the other New England states. This program is sponsored by the New England Green Pastures Committee and Cooperative Extension at each of the New England Land Grant Universities.

Contact: Judy Blaisdell, 207-287-3702, judy.blaisdell@maine.gov

Attachment: Photo of Quint Family. Photo Caption: Judy Blaisdell, Maine Department of Agriculture (left), and the Quint Family (left to right: Pat, Roger, Beth, Jessica, Tom, Cherie, Seth, and Barrett)

Related Files

Photo of Quint Family