Vermont Housing Conservation Board 2005 - Vermont Housing and ...
Vermont Housing Conservation Board 2005 - Vermont Housing and ...
Vermont Housing Conservation Board 2005 - Vermont Housing and ...
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Addison<br />
<strong>Vermont</strong> L<strong>and</strong> Trust photos ad map<br />
Bridport<br />
Shoreham<br />
Dale <strong>and</strong> Alma Briggs with daughter, Karen <strong>and</strong> son, Peter. The Briggs family has<br />
farmed this l<strong>and</strong> since 1929.<br />
The Briggs family has surely shown<br />
its determination to keep on working<br />
this l<strong>and</strong>. Dale’s gr<strong>and</strong>father bought the<br />
original farm in 1929, <strong>and</strong> his parents<br />
owned <strong>and</strong> ran it from the late 1940s<br />
until 1983, when Dale <strong>and</strong> Alma took<br />
over. Having grown from its original 340<br />
acres, the Briggs farm is now one of the<br />
largest in Addison.<br />
The family milks about 170 cows,<br />
with a total herd of over 350. With 410<br />
acres of tillage <strong>and</strong> 200 acres of rented<br />
l<strong>and</strong>, all cultivated according to an<br />
NRCS crop-management plan, the farm<br />
employs four full-time <strong>and</strong> three parttime<br />
employees.<br />
“The 170-stall dairy barn <strong>and</strong> double-8<br />
milking parlor were way ahead<br />
of the times back in 1968,” notes Allen<br />
Karnatz, Champlain Valley co-director<br />
of <strong>Vermont</strong> L<strong>and</strong> Trust. “Thirty-five<br />
years later, the barn is still in excellent<br />
repair <strong>and</strong> very functional. They’ve also<br />
added a freestall heifer barn, <strong>and</strong> several<br />
sheds <strong>and</strong> bunker silos.”<br />
The conserved farm includes more<br />
than two miles of frontage along Otter<br />
Creek, <strong>and</strong> almost a mile of road frontage.<br />
A VAST snowmobile trail crosses<br />
the farm, where Dale <strong>and</strong> Alma have<br />
reserved two five-acre building sites for<br />
their children, daughter Karen, 19, <strong>and</strong><br />
son Peter, 15.<br />
“Neither one of them wants to see<br />
the farm go,” Dale Briggs says. “They like<br />
farming, they grew up on the farm. My<br />
dad <strong>and</strong> mother still live on the south<br />
end of the farm. The kids can walk there.<br />
They want to see the farm stay here.”<br />
Orwell<br />
CONSERVED FARMLAND<br />
IN ADDISON COUNTY<br />
Briggs Farm<br />
VHCB-funded conserved farml<strong>and</strong><br />
other Vemont L<strong>and</strong> Trust-conserved<br />
farms<br />
state <strong>and</strong> federal l<strong>and</strong>s<br />
During the past two years, as real estate values have continued to escalate<br />
rapidly, the pressure to sell farml<strong>and</strong> for development has increased — as<br />
has the cost of purchasing development rights. Although over 150,000<br />
acres of <strong>Vermont</strong>’s farml<strong>and</strong> has been conserved, that represents only<br />
14% of <strong>Vermont</strong>’s 1.1 million acres of agricultural l<strong>and</strong>.<br />
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