Monument Farms, College’s Milk Supplier, Talks History, Practices

Bob James, a representative of Monument Farms Dairy in Weybridge, Vt., gave a talk about the company’s history and practices on Tuesday, Feb. 23, in the Hillcrest Orchard. James, a native of Middlebury and the company’s director of sales and distribution, spoke to an audience of about 25 students and several faculty members who teach environmental studies and the newly created food studies program.

The College has partnered with Monument Farms in some capacity for 65 years. Currently, the farm supplies Dining Services with all of the milk in its dining halls. Bob is the third generation in management, along with his brother Peter James and his cousin John Rooney. James lived at the farm throughout his childhood, and began as a milk driver after graduating from a three-year high school.

The business started with his grandfather in 1930, who had just 28 cows — a modest number by milk standards. He delivered small milk routes to the local grocer and to private homes. As time progressed, James explained, his grandfather was able to buy routes out from nearby farms.

Monument Farms now operates from five locations. Milk production and packaging occurs only at their main location in Weybridge; the other four locations, totaling 2,500 acres, are used for land-based crop work to feed the company’s 500 milking cows. Their main location stays open until 5:30 p.m. on weekdays. “We stay open to get people on their way home from work,” James said.

Monument Farms is classified as a producer–handler, since the excess milk is eligible to be sold wholesale to larger vendors. The farm sells its overflow to Cabot Creamery plant in Middlebury, but James said that this pays little since Monument Farms is not a continuous supplier.
Monument Farms produces whole milk, two percent, skim, half-and-half, heavy cream, chocolate and low-fat chocolate. The farm also buys other dairy products — cheese, eggs, and ice cream — from other producers, including Hood and Maple Meadow.

“That way when we go to a small store in the country, we can offer that store any dairy product they need so they don’t have to go to another dairy company for a substitute.”

James spoke about some unique practices at the Weybridge farm. Unlike other farms, James and his crew begin milking around 11 p.m. and finish by 6 a.m., in addition to milking during the typical time in Addison County from noon to 5 p.m. Legally, a farm can hold milk in a bulk tank for 48 hours, and then picked up and goes down on a truck to New York or Boston, down for a day to get packaged, and then comes back. This midnight milking allows the farm to harvest milk in 12 hours, putting it on the road to New York or Boston for bottling by the early morning.

“We’re very proud that we can get the milk packaged in, a lot of times, 12 hours,” James said.
The company’s Hagar Farm location, James said, is a “freestyle type” of farm where cows can roam around at their will, “go eat and drink at any time, and lay down to sleep if they wish.” In a freestyle farm, cows come to be milked, rather than workers going to the cows. Most farms in Addison County now operate freestyle.

Monument Farms is not a certified organic brand, and has been questioned in the past as to why. James said that local folks could not handle the increased cost if the farm were to switch to organic products.
“If we can do the best possible job in the conventional way, and can have good quality milk using only the essential tools one needs to keep the cows healthy, that is ideal,” James said. “If we were to sell all our milk and switch our equipment over to organic, we would need a territory through Florida to be able to sell it all. The price would be so high that our local folks just wouldn’t be able to handle the increased cost.”
James stressed that Monument Farms is committed to producing local, humane, fair, and ecologically sound milk.

Monument Farms Dairy is located at 2107 James Road in Weybridge, VT. They are open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.