Resiliency grant helps fund the future of farming

NORTH CANAAN — The Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy marked the second round of its “Building Resiliency Through Innovation” grants by bringing leaders in agriculture and land protection to Canaan Valley for demonstrations by two of the Northwest Corner’s most forward-thinking agricultural projects.

Under a low sky on the morning of June 18, attendants turned off Route 44, slid behind the homey storefront of Freund’s Farm Market & Bakery and pulled up to an elegant canopy tent setup where they dug into coffee, frittatas, and eventually strawberry shortcakes, all provided by Freund’s.

On either side of the tent were the facilities of the day’s featured businesses: Canaan View Dairy, which was a recipient of the land trust’s funding, and CowPots, the Freund-family founded and operated biodegradable planting pot enterprise, which was recently featured on the reality television show “Shark Tank.”

Amanda Branson, the NCLC’s director of operations and finance, emphasized the importance of thinking creatively to find ways to make agriculture more sustainable, more resilient against climate change, and more profitable for farmers. “Through the grant program, lots of really exciting projects are happening at farms across the region,” she said – including at Canaan View Dairy.

Farmer Ethan Arsenault, who took over the large dairy barn from the Freund family in 2022 along with Lloyd and Amy Vail, told the crowd that the money was being put to good use. It entirely funded the purchase of a manure-spreading system known as a dribble bar, which is an efficient way to “maintain no-till philosophies,” said Arsenault.

The bar, which is also known as a “drag line” system, drops manure at low pressure over a large area, decreasing soil compaction, crop disturbance and runoff. Arsenault maintained that it helps improve soil health, save fuel and reduce emissions from the farm.

When Bryan Hulburt, commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Agriculture, offered his own remarks, he gestured to the tractor sporting the bar just outside the tent, framed dramatically by Canaan Mountain rising into the mist in the background. “When you’re reviewing grant applications, you don’t see that,” he said, noting the gratification of seeing the grants turn into real impact.

Hulburt said teaming up with the NCLC, which was awarded state money that it then dispersed through the resiliency program, was essential in getting the funds into the right hands. NCLC is the largest land trust in the state and has granted $517,000 through the program to 47 farms covering over 6,000 acres.

“These are one-time investments that will live on well beyond the Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry Program,” Hulburt said, referring to the title of DOAG’s funding initiative.

Arsenault emphasized that the dribble bar is not the only forward-thinking aspect of the farm. “This farm exemplifies resilience on a multitude of levels,” he said, which was illustrated by a detailed tour of the “robotic facility” of the cow barn.

Arsenault showed the wowed audience an entirely automated robotic arm that milks the cows while they feed. The group erupted into astonished laughter when the device, after a series of sci-fi-esque whirrs, clicks and lasers, latched on to the udder of a cow enjoying its grain and immediately began pulling milk through a clear tube.

“That computer,” he said while gesturing into a control room, “is the heart of this.”

Arsenault explained that with much of the labor taken care of by robots, he and the other staff have much more time to focus on the wellbeing of the cows.

“Happy, comfortable cows make the most milk; milk is what I make my money on,” he said.

CowPots, while not a direct recipient of this grant, sources manure from Canaan View Dairy and shares many operational aspects. Father-daughter team Matthew and Amanda Freund led a tour of their self-designed “type-two pulp molding facility” where they turn cow manure into planting pots.

“There’s no shortage of manure,” the elder Freund said, explaining that the idea developed when they saw how much more manure their herd produced than was used for fertilization.

The duo envisioned more opportunities for this highly versatile and plentiful byproduct of dairy farming and are hoping to expand the business into other fibrous container-like products, such as packaging.

They demonstrated a prototype of a manure-based wine shipper as an example.

The facility is zero-waste, they explained. “The only things that leave are the finished product and water vapor,” said Mr. Freund. Even the defective products aren’t thrown away – they become cow bedding.

The Freunds said that manure could hold a much bigger role in modern industrialism. Peat, an organic compound used as a fuel source that also happens to be a major well for carbon that would otherwise pollute the atmosphere, is being phased out in many countries. Manure, the duo explained, is a viable, more sustainable alternative.

For now, though, CowPots is staying equally focused on streamlining internal production strategies. Mr. Freund has a succinct vision for the future of their manufacturing process: “The cow backs up to the machine and out comes a flowerpot.”