McNalls Make History With First County Win

Tonight's St. Albans Messenger carried a big article on the McNall Farm here in Fairfax Making History

Two River Farm in Fairfax is the first dairy operation in Franklin County to be recognized as a Vermont Dairy Farm of the Year in the program's 45-year history. However, the county did have one first place state finalist for the regional title under the Green Pastures Program, precursor of the current recognition program.

In 1952 Persus Monteith of Enosburg Falls competed, along with the top three winners in each state, to be named the New England Green Pastures winner. That year a farmer from Sanford, Maine took the honors for the "greenest pastures" in the six-state region.

The Green Pastures Program began in 1947 when then-New Hampshire governor Charles Dale challenged the governors of the other New England states as to which state had the greenest pastures. His words, "I challenge the other New England states to produce better pastures than New Hampshire, and I bet that they can't do it!" produced a frenzy of interest throughout the region with more than 3,000 farmers submitting applications in 1948, the first year of the contest.