International Flavor
At Rochester Farm
By Martha Slater

Without leaving their peaceful Route 100 valley in Rochester, the Kennett family of Liberty Hill Farm is sharing their love of what they do with people from all over the world.

Back in October, a delegation of Macedonians who came specifically to see the Kennett’s herd of registered Holstein cows, were surprised to discover that the farm also had an overnight guests operation. The Macedonians, in Vermont as guests of the Holstein Association, were looking at significantly increasing their dairy industry. The association has signed an agreement with Macedonian agriculture officials that calls for exporting U.S. registered Holsteins and creating a registered Holstein association in that country.

During their stay in Vermont, the Macedonians toured several dairy farms, in addition to the Kennetts, and also met with state officials and with members of the Vermont National Guard. Although they didn’t stay overnight at Liberty Hill, Beth did serve them lunch.

"It was fascinating to find that they really wanted to question us," Beth Kennett said. "Their country is deciding whether the farms should be run as a government collective, as it was during the Communist rule, or as privately owned family farms. They also wanted to know why our sons chose to come back home to the farm, and how you keep young people interested in farming. They asked what it was about our family, farm, and community that made our sons want to come back and raise their own families here."

Beth added that, "What was special for Bob and me was that they also asked us about our religious faith. They asked very specifically if they could say a blessing for us. The group included Protestants, Catholics and Muslims and they asked a blessing for the meal, and then afterward, on our family and our farm. They insisted that where there was faith, there was blessing, and told us about a lake in Macedonia with 365 churches around it, one for every day of the year. The folks from the Holstein Association told us that their visit with us was an incredibly meaningful part of the trip."

Armenians, Too

A delegation of Armenians also came for an overnight stay in September, through the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, to learn about agritourism in Vermont.

"These are all people who own B & B’s that are part of the tourism industry in Armenia," Beth explained. "We hosted them as ambassadors of Vermont agriculture. I also met with a group of Armenians and Vermont Chamber of Commerce officials in Berlin."

Italians and Poles

In August, a delegation of Italians visited the farm through the American Cheese Society. They had seen Liberty Hill Farm written up in an Italian magazine, although the Kennetts didn’t know the article was there.

Later that month, neighbor Maria Stelmach had a friend visiting from Poland who was astonished to learn that Maria lived right up the hill from Liberty Hill Farm. It seems the friend had read an article about the Liberty Hill in Poland and used that article and other internet resources about it to teach a college class in agritourism. She was thrilled to be able to visit the farm and spend an afternoon with the Kennett family.

An International June

June was a particularly international month this year.

"We had a young couple visit from Singapore, and other guests from Scotland, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia—all within less than three weeks," Beth said. "We thought it was interesting because fall foliage is often when we get international visitors, but not this year."

Over the years, study groups from Canada, Ireland and Belarus have visited the farm specifically to learn about agritourism.

The Kennetts, who opened their farm to overnight guests in February 1984, have also hosted international exchange students, and currently have a student from South Africa visiting them. A student at Vermont Technical College in the same dairy farm management program that Beth and Bob’s son, David Kennett, was in, this young man wants to learn about dairy farm management and take his knowledge home with him to South Africa.

"We always enjoy meeting new people and talking about dairy farming," Beth concluded, "and we’re often reminded that it’s really a small world."

____________