Paul and Kristine Stecker

Washington County, Vermont

Paul Stecker didn't grow up on a farm, but he always knew he wanted to be a farmer. His mother says that his first drawings were of cows and tractors, and that whenever they drove past a farm Paul would roll down the window and take a deep whiff.

Paul's wife of over 20 years, Kristine, grew up with a deep love of horses and the ambition to become a veterinarian. She and Paul grew up in the same town in Northern Connecticut, a community that was more urban than rural, and where very few dairy farms remained.

Paul attended agricultural school at SUNY, Cobleskill in New York State and worked for a number of farmers before buying a farm of his own in 1987. The lessons Paul learned at Cobleskill emphasized pushing for high milk production from the cows, having a large herd size to increase efficiency of their work force, purchasing bulk materials, and not being afraid of running up a high debt load. One professor even commented it was worthwhile having a heavy debt load because when you died, you didn't have to pay it back.

Paul took the ideas he learned and in 1987 he and Kristine began farming on their own, conventionally. Five years later, they went bankrupt. None of the classes had talked about what to do when milk prices hit record lows.

Paul and Kristine returned to working for other farmers, and in 1995 went to work for Peter and Bunny Flint, the founders of Organic Cow of Vermont. This was the start of their organic life. Paul comments, "Going to organic meant forgetting everything you paid to learn in college and doing what feels right in your gut." The Steckers farmed the property owned by the Flints for several years and then purchased their own farm in Cabot, VT.