Quaker Hill Farm Unity

A glimpse into the day of a Maine Dairy Farm -

Today we visited Quaker Hill Farm in Unity run by brothers Tom and Russell Hunter.  The dairy farm was founded by their father after returning from the Army in 1947.

Did you know Maine has 315 dairy farms ranging in size from 10 cows to 1700 cows making 590 million pounds of milk per year? Maine’s dairy industry generates over $570 million dollars each year for the state’s economy and provides over 4000 jobs for Maine people (from the Maine government site).

 

Tom Hunter doing chores on Quaker Hill Farm in Unity.

A view from the calf barn on Quaker Hill Farm

Quaker Hill Farm tries to calf all year long to keep the milk flow even.

Tom getting ready to feed the calves.  Above is calf born yesterday; another calf had been born earlier today.

The calves eating.

 

Derek, Tom and Phillip preparing to milk.

Below is a not so great video (forgive me I was multi-tasking and it was my first time) of the cows being milked.  I first visited this farm about twenty years ago – though I had forgotten until today – when this equipment was brand new.  I loved cows as a child and thought I wanted to be a Maine farmer as an adult.  My grandfather was a farm insurance agent for most of Waldo County, also a former farmer himself.  He took me on tours of many of the farms as a preteen maybe secretly hoping I’d meet a Maine farmer one day and live happily ever after with farming tradition holding strong in our family.  Those tours and many summers on the blueberry field taught me farming is not for the faint at heart.  It also taught me what an important part of the Maine culture farming was and still remains.  Though I didn’t grow up to be a farmer or marry a farmer, I am proud to hail from a state with rich farming heritage and want to do my part in supporting our local farmers.  Thank you Tom and Linda Hunter for letting Meandering Maine into your lives today and giving the rest a glimpse into a Maine dairy farm.