Farming Magazine - June, 2013   New England Farmers Union: One
Farm's Cooperative Story  By Sarah Andrysiak  Lush. That's the
first word that comes to Tony Brown's mind when envisioning June
at his dairy farm. The cows are out on pasture and everything is
green. Tony and his wife, Christine, manage Pembrook Heritage
Farm, located on a hillside overlooking the Green Mountains in
Randolph, Vt. They care for 80 cows and tend 150 acres, most of
them leased.  Dairy farmers steward much of New England's scenic
landscape - rolling pastures studded with cows, barns and silos,
and tractors crossing hayfields. Dairy farmers own or lease
nearly 1 million acres of New England cropland, pasture and
woodland. They purchase hay, grain, silage and replacement cows
from myriad other farms.  Although there's a steady demand for
dairy products in New England - we consume twice the amount
produced in the region - dairying is not easy. Most dairy
farmers face wild fluctuations in the price they receive for
their milk (the pay pri