A new video series from Vermont producer and host, Rocket, features a visit with the Nelson family, multigenerational dairy farmers operating two dairy farms – one organic, one conventional – as Nelson Farms in Irasburg. In early 2024, Nelson Farms transitioned away from organic to only conventional practices.
In discussion with Dylan and Meg, the husband and wife team managing these farms, Rocket explores the differences and surprising depth of similarities between these operations. The Nelsons discuss the ways dairy farmers are using technology to adapt and survive in the modern-day milk markets: from microchips and their state-of-the-art rotary milking parlor. Beyond economic survival, the Nelson family see themselves as farmers who exist and operate within the longstanding Vermont tradition of being good stewards of the land.
Filmmaker Rocket profiled Nelson Farms in a series of eight video stories, called Small Vermont Businesses in Small Vermont Towns. New videos will be released weekly for eight weeks. To see other videos from the series, click here.
Rocket is a storyteller and the driving force behind Eat Vermont and Stellar, a mobile application that empowers people to create custom recipes and navigate the kitchen. He's an alumnus of The Putney School '10 and Middlebury College '14, and recent graduate of the Vermont Law School.
Rocket's video series was supported in part by Vermont Public's Made Here Fund, launched in 2022 to broaden and diversify Vermont storytelling. Rocket's project was one of 10 projects selected by a jury in and funded in 2023. To learn more about the Fund and released and upcoming projects, click here.
