Family at the heart

Building a bridge for the next generation to stay on the farm

As a young man, Steve Dodd didn’t know he would take over the family business. He started out as a service technician in a car dealership. Today he can’t imagine being anywhere but the family farm in Sheldon — where the family has been farming the land since 1967.

His favorite seasons are spring and summer, when he can spend as much time as possible outside. Nestled in a beautiful corner of Franklin County, the property features stunning views of Jay Peak. But you won’t get Steve to choose a favorite piece. “I like it all,” he said.

Steve (left) and Richard Dodd (right)

Steve and his brother, Richard, have owned and run Dodd Family Farm since 1989 when their father, Russell, retired. When Steve and Richard started out, Richard would handle most of the “cow stuff,” as Steve called it, with Steve in charge of the field work. Things have changed a bit since then, but family is still at the heart of the farm.

Resilience despite dairy headwinds

Many medium-sized dairy farmers like Steve and Richard face a tough choice: get bigger to take advantage of economies of scale or shut down. A few years ago, they were milking 300+ cows three times a day. Their land base was small for that size herd so they were buying supplemental feed. They needed extra help, which is hard to find. And milk prices were so low that it was hard to be cost-effective.

Instead of expanding or giving up, they started downsizing. Their goal was to milk fewer cows but improve their lifespan and produce better milk. Then in 2023, disaster struck. They suffered a devastating barn fire, losing their milking parlor.

“A couple times, something happens, and you wonder why you’re doing this,” Steve reflected. “To go out and spend $2.5 million to rebuild and get back into this, you think — is it worth it?”

Steve and his grandson, Tucker.

Tough decisions, good decisions

It was family that kept them going. Steve’s daughter, Morgan Willey, and her husband Seth Willey, live on the farm. They had already taken over day-to-day work, and Steve and Richard planned to transfer ownership to them. So, the family rebuilt a milking barn for a herd of about 220 milking cows and installed robotic milkers to reduce the help needed.

One of the Dodd Farm cows sniffs a robotic feeder. Adding robots helped reduce the staff needed to run the farm at a time that finding workers has been difficult.

The family runs the farm together. Morgan graduated from Vermont Technical College as a veterinary technician and takes care of the herd; a part-time employee helps with calving. Seth manages the milkers. A few years ago, Steve’s son, Ethan, another graduate of Vermont Technical College, started producing maple syrup from a 61-acre sugarbush on the property.

“Looking back, I know we made a good decision,” said Steve.

From left, Seth, Morgan, Steve, Tucker, and Richard.

Conservation builds a bridge to the future

The brothers first conserved over 160 acres along a tributary of the Missisquoi River, in 2022. Steve recalled his father, Russell, saying, “There will never be houses there, it’s too close to the river. It’ll always be farmland.” Steve and Richard decided to ensure that through conservation.

In 2025, they conserved another 332 acres that Steve and Richard bought and added to the farm after they took over the partnership. The parcel is further upstream on the same tributary. It directly abuts the first conserved parcel and several other conserved parcels in the area. The combined block of conserved land boosts clean water and creates a corridor for wildlife along the river.

The family’s conservation ethic extends to on-farm practices as well. Dodd Family Farm has been enrolled in Ben & Jerry’s Caring Dairy program for several years. That program encourages dairy farms to practice sustainable land management through cover cropping, crop rotation, no-till farming, and more.

“We were looking to the future, thinking about how we were going to transfer the farm and still have money left for retirement,” said Steve. Conservation helped bridge the gap to that future. Today, the brothers look forward to seeing the farm remain in the family, keeping the tradition alive.

All photos: Kyle Gray