Rhode Island names Outstanding Dairy Farm of 2015

Aug 13, 2015

Farm will be honored on Friday, September 18th

The recipient of Rhode Island’s 2015 Outstanding Dairy Farm of the Year award is Cottrell Homestead in West Kingston. The farm will officially receive the honor on Friday, September 18^th, 2015 at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Mass. along with other winning dairy farmers from each New England state.

"The historic Cottrell Homestead in West Kingston is one of Rhode Island's finest dairy farms and we are pleased that it has been selected for this special award," said DEM Director Janet Coit. "The success enjoyed by the Cottrell family and other dairy farmers who produce local milk products is helping to protect and preserve hundreds of acres of farmland that will support continued agricultural endeavors for this and future generations to enjoy."

The Cottrells have a long history in Rhode Island.

The farm started in 1900 when current owner Oliver Cottrell’s grandfather bought and farmed the land. The farm is currently operated by Mr. Cottrell, his sons Matt and Glen, his daughter Julie and his grandchildren.

The farm, which consists of a milking herd of over 70 Ayrshires and Holsteins along with corn and hay silage, sweet corn and other vegetables was chosen because of its relationship with the community and involvement with protecting the future of dairy farming in Rhode Island.

Milk cartons

They are part of the Rhode Island Dairy Farms Cooperative and work with other dairy farmers to market their products under the “Rhody Fresh” label.

According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Rhode Island produced more than 17 million pounds of milk, worth nearly $4.5 million.

Join the conversation and tell us about some dairy farms in your area that should be recognized for their outstanding contributions to dairy farming.

Video: Making budget friendly pig feed on a small livestock farm

I am going to show you how we save our farm money by making our own pig feed. It's the same process as making our cattle feed just with a slight adjustment to our grinder/ mixer that makes all the difference. We buy all the feed stuff required to make the total mix feed. Run each through the mixer and at the end of the process we have a product that can be consumed by our pigs.

I am the 2nd generation to live on this property after my parents purchased it in 1978. As a child my father hobby farmed pigs for a couple years and ran a vegetable garden. But we were not a farm by any stretch of the imagination. There were however many family dairy farms surrounding us. So naturally I was hooked with farming since I saw my first tractor. As time went on, I worked for a couple of these farms and that only fueled my love of agriculture. In 2019 I was able to move back home as my parents were ready to downsize and I was ready to try my hand at farming. Stacy and logan share the same love of farming as I do. Stacy growing up on her family's dairy farm and logans exposure of farming/tractors at a very young age. We all share this same passion to grow a quality/healthy product to share with our community. Join us on this journey and see where the farm life takes us.