Many students might wonder what to do in the Upper Valley during the winter. While some of us hit the Dartmouth Skiway to get in a few weekend runs, or skate with friends on Occom Pond, those classic seasonal options can get repetitive. There’s no denying that some of New England’s charm wears off when the fall foliage is long gone and it’s too cold to swim in the Connecticut River. As a native of the Northeast, I’ve found that making the most of these chillier months often requires some creativity. So, if you’re looking for more ways to enjoy the cold this term, I recommend that you find a car, turn on your best playlist and head 30 minutes west to Woodstock, Vt., for a not-so-hidden gem: Billings Farm and Museum.
Initially, I underestimated the entertainment value that a college-aged person like myself could get out of a Vermont dairy farm in the dead of winter. While many students might have visited Mac’s Maple — a farm in Plainfield, N.H. — for their maple creemees, Billings is less well-known among Dartmouth students.
I’d gone to Billings with a specific activity in mind — horse-drawn sleigh rides around the farm. But after a pleasant conversation with the venue’s ticket counter operator, I bought general admission to the farm along with my sleigh ride pass. As I explored the farm, a pattern quickly emerged: I would head over to an area of the farm for a given activity but wind up staying longer than intended. I credit that immersiveness to the farm’s friendly and knowledgeable team.
Billings’s staff members are true believers in its mission. Nori Pepe, the farm’s marketing and public relations manager, said she had initially done marketing work for Billings but enjoyed its inviting community so much that she decided to get further involved.
“I really appreciated that Billings saw that I was dealing in events and programs and created a role that fit my skill set,” Pepe said. “I’ve learned a lot from this place.”
Billings gives its patrons free rein to explore farm activities. Visitors can walk around independently on the farm’s grounds or take a more structured approach, learning from personnel stationed at Billings’s barns and other buildings. Outside of these day-to-day activities, Billings also offers diverse programming, from torchlight snowshoes to craft brew and cocktail events, to further build community, according to the farm’s website.
“Right now we’re hosting a film series, and each film week is totally different — we show mostly documentary films,” Pepe said. “It’s great to see the community show up every other week from November to February.”
Billings’s public-facing programming is a key part of its brand, according to education and interpretation director Christine Scales. Working at Billings means making an effort to integrate public education into the farm’s work, whether it be an exhibit, a film series or a milking demonstration, Scales explained.
“It’s a lot of, ‘Why are we doing this?’” she said. “‘Who are the audiences we’re reaching?’”
In addition to programming, the Billings museum also offers seasonal and permanent exhibitions, including the permanent Farm Life Exhibits housed across four barns. The museum also includes the permanent Trophy Room exhibit in the dairy barn, which contains awards the cows have won dating back to the Columbian Exposition from 1893, according to its website.
The farm’s museum staff have a long history from which to draw — Billings’s founder, Frederick Billings, purchased the farmland in 1869 — which is prominently featured onsite. Within minutes of exploring the site, I discovered an exhibit detailing the farm’s history and success in the local community. Later, I stumbled upon the restored 1890s home of the first farm manager, where the employees stationed throughout the house gave me a guided tour.
Scales said weaving the farm’s history into the visitor experience at Billings has led her to reflect on the “innovative” nature of farming, from the 19th through the 21st century.
“One thing that has really surprised me is that you can look at old agricultural tools or practices and initially see them as historic, old relics,” Scales said. “But really, farmers are such innovative problem-solvers. … It’s [a quality] that I still see today with our current farm staff.”
While Billings welcomes many visitors throughout the year, the venue is, first and foremost, a functional farm, according to farm manager Phil Ranney. Ranney, who has served in his role at Billings for the past two years, explained that he grew up raising cows in Westminster, Vt. For Ranney, farming runs in the family.
“I [am a seventh generation farmer] on that land and I always loved farming,” he said.
Ranney said he works with four other full-time personnel and lives on the Billings property in order to fulfill his duties. His daily routine is dictated by the needs of the animals he oversees, he added.
“We start milking at about 5:30 a.m. and chores are usually wrapped up by 9:30 or 10:30 a.m.,” Ranney said. “The afternoon milking and chores start at about 3:30 p.m., and wrap up at about 5:30 p.m. for the day.”
Unlike dairy farmers whose farms are closed to the public, Ranney said he has to adapt his routine to Billings’s visitors. In the warmer months, the venue has to “temporarily close certain areas” for patrons — to allow animals to graze — and “schedule public programming, like milking demonstrations,” around the grazing schedule, he explained. Although balancing visitor activities and farmwork can create logistical hurdles, Ranney said he loves the unpredictability of his work.
“You never know who you’ll have on a day-to-day basis,” Ranney said. “Some folks have never been out on a farm or up close to a cow. At the same time, you could have a retired dairy farmer [as a guest]. It’s fun to visit with all the different guests that come here from all over.”
I was in the camp of visitors who had minimal experience with cows. Those fleeting moments made me all the more ecstatic to enter the dairy barn. Once inside, I was approached by a staff member who said the six words that made my day: “Have you seen the newborn calf?”
All of the dairy cows on the farm were accessible to the public. Learning the cows’ names and watching them in their element gave me a newfound appreciation for the many hands it takes to keep the herd healthy. A staff member in the dairy barn told me that cows have to eat tens of pounds of grain and drink gallons of water each day to produce the requisite amount of milk, which is about seven to eight gallons per day per cow, according to the farm’s website. Though the weekend trip had started out as entertaining, I quickly appreciated the farm for its staff’s passion and care.
“We’ve got a great team culture here and everybody that lives on site understands that farming is a lifestyle more than a job,” Ranney said. “It’s seven days a week and the cows have to be milked twice a day every year, year round. Everyone is flexible and jumps in when needed. We support each other.”
I ended the day with the event I’d anticipated all week: the sleigh ride. With chiming bells acting as the soundtrack of the journey, I rode in a loop on the farm grounds, chatting with families and asking questions about the draft horses. Though it lived up to my every expectation, the highlight of the ride was the five-minute conversation about Dartmouth that I had with the teamster — the man who drove the sleigh — at the end.
To Scales, forming these connections between employees and guests is one of the most special parts of Billings.
“I love meeting guests and seeing their faces light up when they see something that they’ve never seen before,” Scales said. “I think [Billings] is such a beautiful place to be. There’s just something really nurturing about being here.”
