Ceres watches over an ever-changing landscape

by George Putnam, president and CEO, Yankee Farm Credit

Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, has looked out over Yankee’s territory from atop Montpelier’s golden dome since 1859. But I like to think that she has always watched over our territory.

What changes has Ceres seen?

• The early years. The earliest farmers found Yankee’s territory mostly wooded, and set about to change the landscape with slash-and-burn clear cutting. (Imagine if they had to deal with today’s environmental regulations!) Much of the original forest was converted into potash, America’s first industrial chemical, for use in soap, glass, dyes and gunpowder.
•  Early 1800s. The forests were largely gone, making way for crop and livestock farming. Wheat was the earliest significant crop — a sheaf of which Ceres is holding atop the capitol dome — and beef cattle and sheep were the earliest significant livestock.
•  Mid 1800s. Sheep dominated the Vermont landscape, reaching a peak of 1.6 million in 1840, or six sheep for every resident. Wool was in heavy demand. Eventually the sheep moved west, where they could be raised more cheaply. Livestock agriculture in Yankee’s territory turned to dairy, with butter and cheese the important products.
• Late 1800s. The Franklin County Cooperative Creamery in St. Albans was the largest butter manufacturer in the world. Crop production shifted from wheat to potatoes and then apples. Vermont’s potato acreage reached a peak of 47,000 acres in 1877. Today it is less than 300 acres.
•  Early 1900s. Butter and cheese production moved west, where they could be manufactured more cheaply. But the cows stayed, and their production was sold as fluid milk and cream, especially in the Boston market. The introduction of the insulated milk tank railcar in the 1920s facilitated the movement of milk to Boston. By 1930, Vermont had only 30,000 sheep, while 405,000 cattle (mostly dairy cows) outnumbered the population of 360,000 people.
• Next 100 years. Technological advances helped dairy farming become more mechanized and productive.

Yankee’s territory today

Yankee’s farmers still produce milk for the Boston fluid market, as well as for a variety of manufactured products including cheese, ice cream and yogurt. Today’s dairy farms are fewer, but larger. Total milk production increased. In Vermont, the number of cows dropped to 140,000 but total milk production is now 2.6 billion pounds, double the amount in 1934.

The concentration of livestock onto fewer and larger farms facilitated the return of forests. In 1910, six million acres of cropland and pastureland spanned Yankee’s territory, but most has since reverted to forestland. Today, Yankee’s territory includes only 850,000 acres of cropland and pastureland, a loss of 86 percent.

What changes lie ahead?

 Of course, no one can predict what lies ahead. But we all recognize that future changes will likely be as major as those of the past. And, as Ceres has witnessed, the changes of the past have been profound. As the world continues to evolve, are you and your business positioned to keep up with changing times? At Yankee Farm Credit, we can help you plan how to meet those challenges. Please give us a call..


This letter appeared in the Summer 2007 issue of Financial Partner (F.P.) magazine, Yankee Farm Credit's customer publication. Click here if you would like to start receiving F.P. magazine in the mail.

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