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For over 130
years, our family has been working the land on our 180-acre farm in
Enfield, Connecticut.
Today we are primarily a dairy and composting business, milking
approximately 75 Holstein and Jersey cows. We produce corn and hay to
support our operation, and our cows are pastured from late spring through
the fall. Every cow at our farm has a name,
as well as her own unique personality!
Every summer, we show some of our
Registered Holsteins
and Jerseys on a local, state, regional, and
occasionally, a national level. Not only has showing been an important
marketing tool for
our herd for over 50 years, it also allows us to
engage
with local families to highlight
some of the challenges and rewards of today's farming through the care and preparation of individual animals. Collins
Compost began in 1992 as a way to diversify our operation. As
farmland continues to disappear throughout our state, agricultural
awareness within our community has become increasingly important to our
family and the way we do business. From education to preservation, here are a few examples of how
we've worked to foster a greater appreciation for all
that Connecticut's farms have to offer:
For over 40 years, people from all backgrounds have come to
our farm to participate in
the Merry Moo-ers, a Hartford County
4-H dairy club.
In 1997 we opened the
Collins Creamery as a way
to bring people to the farm while improving the viability of the dairy
business. In 1992, we sold the
farm's
development rights to the state. This ensures that the land will always be available
for agriculture despite growing development pressures throughout
Connecticut.
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2009-2022 Collins Compost | |||
Now
in its fifth generation, Collins Powder Hill Farm continues to benefit
from the fertile soils and hard work that have sustained agriculture in
the Connecticut River Valley for centuries.
While our
compost relies on leaves collected off-site, the compost side of
the business is otherwise very dependent on the dairy side of the
business. Family members and other employees have first-hand knowledge of
composting principles and practices, and the other major ingredient to our
compost - cow manure - comes directly from our farm. Every spring, in
addition to preparing our compost for sale, we use it as a soil amendment
on our own crop fields.