Meet the “Brotherly Farm Organic” family. Craig and Angela Russell, and their children Alex, Emily and Abigail, have been farming in Brookfield and Randolph Center, Vermont for 10 years. Their certified organic dairy farm is home to dairy animals, pigs, chickens, turkeys and horses. The Brotherly Farm Organic has 170 acres of tillable land for hay ground, and 200 acres for intensive rotational grazing. The cows are in a tie-stall and free-stall barn and milked in a parlor. The farm’s focus is self-sustainability. In addition to producing certified organic milk, the Russells also do small-scale meat production and are exploring growing grains.

Farm chores at Brotherly Farm Organic begin at 4 a.m. with morning milking and continue with calf and heifer feedings, dry cow feeding, milk cow feeding, small animal feeding and cleaning, and animal breeding when needed. During the summer, additional chores are cropping, putting the cattle out to pasture, and maintaining pastures and fences. The Russells are on the board of the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Association and VT Grass Farmers Association, a member of the local farm collaborative and Northeast Organic Farming Association and are involved in local school, sports, and 4-H events.