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Local Vermont Dairy Expands And Realizes Dream

photo by provided All of the contractors involved in the build in September 2016 with tape marking the building footprint.

photo by provided Taken in the same spot as the original contractors gathering, the new barn complex is close to ready.

photo by provided The new barn.

Tuesday October 17, 2017

By Cookie Steponaitis

It was 1969 when Lee Kayhart crossed the border into the Green Mountain State and brought his family to live on a farm in Vergennes, where they lived until 1979. Lee and his wife Pat purchased an 80-cow farm and farmed the land raising their children to love the lifestyle and understand the facets of successful farming. Over the years along with two sons and one daughter the business grew and earned the reputation of producing quality products. A tragic accident changed Lee’s life in 1984 resulting in the loss of both arms but not the end of his farming career. After only three months Lee returned to the farm and the full demands of the career. Semi-retired, Lee now watches as generation two takes the farm in new and exciting directions.
    By the time sons Tim and Steve returned to the farm in the early 1990’s following in their family’s footsteps there were 250 cows on the farm and agriculture in the state of Vermont had reached a turning point. The brothers purchased the farm in 2010, created Kayhart Brothers and transformed the farm into several that are in Vermont and New York with 2000 acres in production and generating approximately 8,000 gallons of milk a day from over 925 prize Holsteins. Transferring the farm successfully from generation one to generation two makes the brothers proud and recognition of the quality of the product is evident by multiple milk quality awards and the Vermont State Conservation Farm of the Year Award.
    It was about five years ago when Steve and Tim Kayhart began contemplating the next phase of business and building for the family farm. Touring farms in Pennsylvania, New York and Wisconsin, the brothers did their research carefully as they created their vision for expanding and bringing together their herd now housed in two separate barns. The brothers moved forward two years ago with permits and construction of a road back into the land where the new barn complex would take shape. Last September ground was broken and on November 1st the brothers plan on moving most of the herd into the new 66,000 square foot barn complex. “This is the foundation for our family’s ability to be competitive in the dairy industry not only for now but in the future as well,” explains Steve Kayhart.
    While there was a time about two generations ago when a person with a strong work ethic and a herd of about fifty-sixty cows could make a living in farming, those days are long gone. “We are businessmen as much as we are farmers,” shared Steve Kayhart. “We are both passionate about our work and unlike many people in today’s world we are fortunate enough to love what we do. Come Monday I can’t wait to get back to my cows.” As luck and good planning would have it, the brothers have a passion for facets of the farm. Steve loves cows and Tim loves field work. Together the pair is moving the farm forward into the new developments in Vermont agriculture and has left room and the ability to move into new directions as needed.
    In a time where Vermont farming seems to be more of a risk than ever, one might wonder why the brothers took their dream from vision to reality. For Steve it is quite simple. This is more than a job and what they do. It is a family connection, legacy and a source of pride and passion. Raised in the Vermont farm community both men went away from Vermont and had other careers. They returned to the land and the way of life with it out of choice and a dawning realization that it was home. The brothers are hoping to be a part of the Vermont Farm Breakfast program this coming year and will welcome visitors to the new facility. If you drive by the Kayhart farm in Addison do not expect to see any new barn rising up in the morning mist because like so many places in this valley it is down a side road, just around a couple of corners and nigh to where the crow flies.
    The Valley Voice salutes the work ethic, vision and adaptability of all Vermonters involved in the ever-changing world of agriculture. They are a part of a tradition dating back to the founding of the state and are front and center of the generation that is taking agriculture into its next phase of development. One thing is for sure, smack in the middle of it and loving every minute are the Kayhart Brothers.

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