Lebanon
The 2-year-old dairy cow looked to the crowd briefly, turning to avoid the nearby hands ushering her movement in different directions. And then the bidding began.
A short introduction from the auctioneer was followed by the rapid raising of hands from the crowd, each one pushing the price up. A $1,600 bid was soon raised by one for $1,900, followed by calls for $2,100, $2,200 and $2,350.
When bids ended about two minutes later, the auctioneer rapped his gavel against a table elevated above the pen, and quickly called in the next cow.
The dispersal sale at Walhowdon Farm followed the same pattern about 200 times as its herd was sold off. Cows would be ushered into the pen, bidding would commence, bidding would close, and the process would start all over again.
Aware of the repetition, the two auctioneers riffed off each other like morning DJs.
“Goodness, what a pedigree. Look at that rear on her,” one would exclaim.
“You’re talking about power. You’re talking about pedigree. It’s all here,” the second would reply.
But unlike the fun and lightheartedness of a morning radio production, Thursday’s auction had a somber tone: It marked the end of an era. Walhowdon Farm, the last dairy farm in Lebanon, is ending more than six decades of Holstein breeding.
“This farm is in your blood. It doesn’t go away,” said Abby Patch, whose family has owned the farm since 1778.
The farm uphill of Lebanon Middle School dates back centuries, but modern operations began in 1947, when Wallace Patch and his two sons, Donald and Howard, took over. It had been called Hill View Farm, but with that name already registered with the national Holstein Association, they pooled their first names and created the Walhowdon name.
Together, the family focused on breeding Holsteins, and established quite a reputation.
Cows can be ranked like a pyramid, said Steve Taylor, a Plainfield farmer and former state agriculture commissioner. Cows used for breeding constitute the top 1 percent of the population, another 8 percent lies in multiplier herds using the breeder cows’ genetics. The remaining cows provide standard stock on dairy farms, Taylor explained.
The Walhowdon cows are in that top 1 percent, he said, and the Patchs’ hard work is responsible.
“This is a very well-known herd of cattle. Well-liked people, highly respected for the work,” said Dave Rama, owner of the Cattle Exchange, the New York-based auctioneer working with the Patchs.
But a unified Walhowdon Farm will soon come to and end. And as milk prices decrease, the Patch family cannot afford to keep the cows.
Howard Patch died in 2015, leaving the farm to his two children, Matthew and Mark, and they’re splitting up farm operations.
Matthew’s family is taking over the apple cider and maple syrup business, and Mark’s family will take on the cows and crops, said Barbara Patch, Matthew’s wife.
Mark’s daughter, Abby Patch, said the farm originally diversified as a hedge to supplement dairy income when the industry hit hard times. With the farm operations now separated, the dairy half is at the mercy of the milk market, she said.
“We don’t want to leave the dairy industry but, as of yet, we’re not sure what’s going to happen,” Abby Patch said.
Mark Patch said he would be busy helping load cattle after the auction and Matthew wasn’t at the event.
The price of milk has been in decline since 2014, when it hit a national high of $25.70 per hundred pounds and eventually dropped to $15.70 today, according to the National Milk Producers Association, a dairy trade group.
“Milk prices are not good and it’s putting a huge amount of stress on farms,” said Steve Schmidt, the Grafton County executive director of the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. “It takes a long time to recover from these long downturns.”
Schmidt said Granite State farmers are also facing a demographic problem. The average American farmer is 58, he said, and many don’t have family willing to take on the business.
“What are they going to do when they retire?” he asked. “(The farm) will be sold and somebody else will either buy it and consolidate it with another farm or it will go for development.”
Farmers at the auction were feeling the same crunch, but still came from as far as New York and Pennsylvania to support fellow dairy producers and hopefully take a Walhowdon cow home.
Since the Patchs rarely sold cows before Thursday, Pete Waterman was hoping to reap the rewards of the Walhowdon breeding program. He also wanted to help a family he’s known for years.
“There’s a sort of unwritten rule where breeders support other breeders,” said Waterman, who owns Waterman Farms in Sabattus, Maine.
Susan Brown, who operates a 6,000-head farm in Bristol, Vt., said she came in part to pay respect to the Walhowdon heritage.
“It’s a sad day really because of how long they’ve been doing it,” she said. “When you breed cows, they become family.”
Brown said she made a few bids, but is reluctant to invest more in dairy when the markets are down.
“If milk prices were better, this sale would be flying,” she said. “Everybody is under the pinch with the milk price.”
Longtime family friend Rodney Aldrich, 63, said seeing flowers in front of the main pen on Thursday reminded him of a funeral.
“They’re a salt-of-the-earth people,” he said. “It’s an amazing thing they’ve done, really, to breed those kind of cattle.”
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.