-If you're a -small farm, -your days are so numbered.

-When you look at what big -farms are capable of doing, -just - -That there's a there's -a reason why there's a reason -why automobiles are made -in factories.

-I can't compete with it.

-And I don't want to.

-Today we're in Pawlet -on our way -to Woodlawn Farmstead, -which is run and owned -by Seth and Kate Leach, -multi-generational farmers -who are figuring out ways -to adapt dairy to this crazy -commodity market -that milk has become.

-Before -we dive into all of that, -I just want you to -look out the window -beside me and get a sense for -how remote and how freaking -beautiful Pawlet is.

-This is truly one of the -undiscovered gems in Vermont.

-It is -astonishingly beautiful.

-Do you know where -I can find Seth?

-Out bailing hay.

-Look at this view.

-These cows live in a better -view than 99% of humanity.

-So my name is Seth Leach, -and I'm the owner -and operator, at Woodlawn -Farm in Pawlet, Vermont.

-And, I'm the seventh -generation in my family -to run this business.

-We milk about 120 dairy cows.

-grow all of our own grain -and all of our own forages.

-And, we have a -beef business as well.

-We figure, -1831 is when we start here.

-How does it feel?

-What does it mean -to you to be on land -that your family's -been on for so long?

-That's a tough one to -just answer.

-You know, like, -How does it feel?

-It feels like -It doesn't ever feel -like a burden.

-Never.

-It feels like -I mean, basically, -I just want to be -the one that***ks it -up, right?

-Like, it's been going on -for a long time.

-I don't want to be the one -that it falls on its face -under my watch.

-And how much acreage in -going now.

-Right now -the home farm is not quite -400 acres but it's close.

-There's actually about 75 -acres of this upland pasture -that we've been working -pretty hard at -bringing that back to greater -productivity.

-You know, fencing it off, -as you can see, and rotating -the cows through it.

-This is a part of the farm -that we all really love -and have always loved.

-It raises our -heifers in the summer.

-We just moved a group of -them into this, this -fresh paddock -here on the right -this morning.

-We've seeded -we've spread manure up here.

-It's awesome to see that work -yield some results.

-It's it's like it's -a marathon.

-It's not a sprint.

-And where does -your milk go?

-So the milk from our farm, -the majority of it goes -through our co-op, -into Cabot cheese products.

-A portion of it -is actually sold directly -to a couple of cheesemakers -in central Vermont.

-Plymouth Artisan cheese -and Crowley Cheese.

-The majority of dairy farms -in America are entirely, -involved in commodity -markets.

-They sell commodity milk, -and they're their number one -expense is the purchase -of commodity grain -for for their cows.

-When the commodity markets -are unfavorable.

-And as a dairy farmer, -you essentially don't -have any control over -what you get paid for, -what you produce, -nor do you have control -over what you pay for -your single biggest expense.

-I love what Plymouth -and Crowley and I have done.

-They had a need.

-They they couldn't buy -the high quality raw milk -that they needed -in a single source.

-It just it became, like, -unavailable to them -because of trucking and, -you know, proximity to farms -and all this stuff -that just -kind of crumbled on them.

-And I just went to -them and was like, okay, -so I make this much milk.

-Here's the quality -that you could expect.

-Is this interesting to you?

-The answer was yes.

-You know, -and what that's evolved to is -I own a milk truck -in a wash bay -now to make that happen.

-Vertically integrating -it gives me -a degree of control.

-Essentially, -you are creating a product -that is designated -to be sold to people that are -less conscious about price -and more conscious of where -it's coming from.

-Plymouth and Crowley take -they take a wedge of my milk.

-They pay me a fair price -for my milk.

Always.

-It would be a huge deal -if I was selling them -half or more of my milk.

-So I look at, I look at, -consider as this way -to potentially take -another piece -of my production and, -and funnel it into a value -add channel.

-It's scary as hell.

-The idea of saying, well, -you know, going to, -you know, borrow -a bunch of money -to lease a bunch of equipment -and buy my own milk -to make cheese with, and -then hope we can sell enough.

-It's going to be tricky -getting off the map.

-There's no two ways about it.

-With farming, -with agriculture -What you get back is a -function of what you put in.

-I would like to be -considered as someone -that worked really hard, -treated people fairly -and produce the really -quality finished product.

-I consider -all the stuff that I'm trying -to do the challenge -of being a good farmer.

-You know, I don't really know -how to, like, quantify -the feeling of like that -multi-generational thing.

-So much is just like, -it's it's just -in your bones.