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(Clockwise from left) Jay Van Arman of Norwich, Charlie Dana, field foreman at Vermont Technical College and Mary Lou Bradley, current employee and former farm manager at Norwich Farms, chat quietly in the main barn at Norwich Farms on Thursday. Photo by Sarah Priestap/Valley News © Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com
Vermont Technical College and the Vermont State Colleges on Thursday celebrated an unusual and significant donation: a 348-acre farm which includes an operational, 40-stall dairy business.
The gifted farm, on Turnpike Road in Norwich, also includes three residential buildings and multiple barns.
Patricia Coates, spokeswoman for the state colleges, said Thursday that the $1.5 million in-kind donation was made this spring by Andrew Sigler, a former member of the Dartmouth College Board of Trustees and former longtime CEO of Champion International Corp., a paper company.
A laboratory and test kitchen will be built at the farm to help students learn about other agricultural production processes, including cheese making, and there are expansion plans for other farm applications as well.
VTC plans to work with the Vermont Institute for Applied Agriculture to offer future programs at the farm on enterprises such as yogurt-making and distilled-spirit manufacturing.
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Dan Smith, president of Vermont Technical College, thanks those who helped in the acquisition of Norwich Farms during a news conference at the dairy farm in Norwich on Thursday. The farm, which has served as an education center since its inception, was donated to the college this spring. Photo by Sarah Priestap/Valley News Copyright © Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com
The college already has received federal funding for a dairy laboratory and has an arrangement with a cheese maker in the Upper Valley to launch that piece of the project, according to a press release.
Day camps for students and after-school programs are also envisioned at the property.
Celebrating the opening of the farm under VTC’s program offerings was Vermont Tech President Dan Smith, Vermont State Colleges Chancellor Jeb Spaulding, and others.
The prepared statement from the college said the current dairy operations, which are in Randolph Center, would be relocated to the new Norwich location.
“This move will provide students with a more immersive educational experience and provide them with cutting-edge equipment and facilities,” the statement said.
“This donation is unprecedented and enables Vermont Tech to provide students with an intensive residential agricultural experience that’s second to none,” said President Dan Smith at the event. “Not only will this allow students to experience a fully operational dairy farm, it will also allow Vermont Tech to expand and diversify our educational offerings.”
A specialized dairy farm program that will host students at the farm will now be concentrated into one, intensive semester-long experience, the release said. Twelve students will live and work at the site, spending their 16-week term operating the Norwich farm in close connection with faculty.
During that time they will learn about farm operations, conduct laboratory exercises, and take part in classroom study, all while having “real-world learning experiences,” the announcement stated.
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