SUSTAINABLE BERKSHIRES: Turner dairy farming marries tradition and innovation

To battle the volatility of milk pricing, the Turners have turned to a number of strategies. Carla and Paul have the sugaring operation, which provides an additional livelihood for them.

Note from Barbara Zheutlin, executive director of Berkshire Grown: The Berkshires are much loved for the pastoral beauty of the region. This gorgeous landscape attracts visitors and development, producing a rich culture, while simultaneously raising the cost of land. The high cost of land is one of the many challenges facing farms, the farms that are at the heart of the beauty of the Berkshires. So a challenge to all who treasure the Berkshires is how to sustain the old and new farms of the region that make the Berkshires extraordinary. In this series you will “get to know your local farmers,” the individuals who grow the food you eat and care for the land you see.

South Egremont — On Route 23, just west of the village of South Egremont, sits the sign for Turner Farms Maple Syrup. The sign points you up Phillips Road, towards the sugarhouse that Carla and Paul Turner established on the family farm in the late 80s. Beside, behind, and all around the sugarhouse are signs of the Turners’ other farming operation, one that’s less in the public eye: dairy. Operating since the 1920s, Turner Farms Dairy is now a fourth-generation farm – and the last surviving dairy farm in Egremont.

The Turner's maple syrup shop is announced at the corner of Phillips Road and Route 23 in Egremont. Photo: Jamie Paxton
The Turner’s maple syrup shop is announced at the corner of Phillips Road and Route 23 in Egremont. Photo: Jamie Paxton

Turner Farms is owned by brothers Bill and Paul Turner, who co-run it along with Bill’s son Darrell and Paul’s wife Carla. Like most dairies in the Northeast, Turner Farms is part of a dairy cooperative that picks up their raw milk and handles the processing and sales of it. The Turners are one of 75 Massachusetts farms who are part of Agri-Mark, one of the biggest co-ops in the Northeast. The Turners milk roughly 110 cows at any given time – that’s 800 gallons of milk every day, which is picked up daily and transported to the regional plant in West Springfield, where it is pasteurized and turned mostly into Cabot butter for sale throughout the Northeast and dried milk powder for the world market.

Carla Turner adjusts the feeding tanks for young calves. Photo: Jamie Paxton
Carla Turner adjusts the feeding tanks for young calves. Photo: Jamie Paxton

As we toured the barns and milking parlor, and visited the cows in their various age groupings, the conversation inevitably took a turn towards the challenging milk economy of recent years. Mentioning a nearby dairy farm that had just gone out of business, the Turners pointed out the unfortunate truth: “With the way milk is now, you never know who’s going out.” Why is it so tough? Simple economics: it costs more to produce a gallon of milk than farmers are able to sell it for, so they’re losing money on every gallon – sometimes a lot of money. Wholesale milk prices are set by the USDA in a complex system that has no real correlation with the varying cost of production in different parts of the country, and prices can go dramatically up and down from year to year. Here in the Northeast, the cost to produce a hundredweight of milk (the standard wholesale unit) is in the low $20s. But current pricing is about $14.50 per hundredweight – so farmers’ revenue covers just two-thirds of their costs to produce that milk. Next year may be better – but it may not – and this creates a tenuous situation at best on many dairy farms.

Bill Turner with one of the farm's trucks .
Bill Turner with one of the farm’s trucks .

To battle the volatility of milk pricing, the Turners have turned to a number of strategies. Carla and Paul have the sugaring operation, which provides an additional livelihood for them. Within the dairy operation, the family has diversified their business and taken advantage of new opportunities that strengthen the farm’s financial picture. The Turners contract with other dairy farmers in the area to do custom field work for them. That is, they’ll plant and cultivate the fields of other farms, growing the hay, corn and soy those farmers need to feed their herds. The Turners already own all of the large (and expensive) equipment required to do this work, so by working with other farmers in the area, they’re able to bring in some extra money while saving other farms from needing to invest in this equipment. The arrangements seem to be a win-win for all parties and are a great example of the value of the connections and community that are possible in a dense agricultural region.

The Turners have also been adapting some of their farming practices, experimenting with different crop rotations, cover cropping and no-till agriculture, in search of the best combination to help them increase productivity, preserve soil quality and control pests with minimal outside inputs to the soil – i.e., fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. This year all of their corn will be no till and they’ve landed on a crop rotation that helps them make the most of their land, year after year.

Paul Turner with one of the farm's John Deere tractors. Photo: Jamie Paxton
Paul Turner with one of the farm’s John Deere tractors. Photo: Jamie Paxton

Outside of the fields, the Turners are resourceful, taking advantage of whatever opportunities they can to strengthen the farm business. Paul, Bill and Darrell are all proficient mechanics and do most of the repair work on their equipment, a huge savings for them. They’ve been successful with grant applications in recent years, which has helped them upgrade their energy systems and build new barns to improve the health and comfort of their herd. And in just the last five years, the farm is seeing the impact of the Internet on traditional dairy farming. They’re now able to purchase tractors and equipment at a steep discount online, from places as far away as California and Georgia. More locally, Carla has embraced social media, engaging often with the farm’s followers on Facebook and enticing them to come visit with photos and videos of the farm animals and news about the farming community.

Carla also sang the praises of the assistance provided by Massachusetts. “This state is really good about helping farms,” she said, referring, in part, to the dairy tax credit that helps dairy farmers by supplementing the wholesale price in years that milk pricing falls below a certain level.

Darrell Turner and Berkshire Grown Executive Director Barbara Zheutlin in the farm's milking parlor. Photo: Jamie Paxton
Darrell Turner and Berkshire Grown Executive Director Barbara Zheutlin in the farm’s milking parlor. Photo: Jamie Paxton

The Turners have also made an arrangement among themselves that keeps the business sustainable on a personal level. With four family members primarily responsible for the farm, they split up chores between them, meaning that they all get every other weekend off and at least 2 weeks of vacation a year – something they emphasized is absolutely critical.

While the dairy operation at Turner Farms is less “locally-oriented” than their maple production, it, like other dairy farms, remains a critical part of local agriculture in the Berkshires. Dairy farms steward nearly a quarter of the agricultural land in Berkshire County and their sales account for 45 percent of all farm sales in the county. And though it is not sold direct to consumers, their milk is nearly all marketed within Massachusetts and the Northeast.

One of the Turner Farms pastures. Photo: Jamie Paxton
One of the Turner Farms pastures. Photo: Jamie Paxton

Although it doesn’t have a farm name on it, nearly all of the milk that you see at the supermarket came from small New England family farms like the Turners’. And dairies play a critical role in supporting the agricultural infrastructure that serves all farms in the region, large and small. Without the money that dairy farms put into the local ag economy, it would be far more challenging for the stores and services that farmers rely on to remain viable. The bottom line? Local dairy is local ag, too, and we need to support them all to keep agriculture thriving in the Berkshires.

Interested in a visit to the farm to check out the cows and pick up some maple syrup? The farm store is open daily from 7-7 at 11 Phillips Rd, South Egremont, Massachusetts 01258. More information available on the Turner Farms Website or Facebook page, or give them a call: 413-528-5710. You can also follow along with Berkshire Grown’s tour of Turner Farms here.