TURNER, Maine — On Sunday, farms across the state opened their gates for Open Farm Day, an annual event held to give Mainers the chance to learn more about local agriculture.
"We think it's really important to tell the story of agriculture, because again it's not something the vast majority of people have experience with," Brigeen Farms owner Betsy Bullard said.
Brigeen Farms in Turner has been operating since 1777. Bullard said she enjoys the annual event because it gives the community a chance to see where their food comes from and teaches people a thing or two about farm operations.
The farm has about 500 cows who milk every day, each producing 12 gallons. Bullard said most of the milk goes into a tanker trailer and is normally hauled off to Oakhurst Dairy.
"If you look, the vast majority of the milk on the shelves in the grocery store is going to be local," Bullard said. "It'll have the number 23 and then dash then another number. The 23 tells you it's [from] the state of Maine."
Typically, the farm produces milk and sells it wholesale, Bullard said. However, it opened a small-scale creamery in 2019 serving frozen custard with milk straight from the farm.
"It's amazing to create food for people to feed the world and to raise animals is really rewarding," Sydney Bullard, an 11th-generation family farm staff member, said.
The farm and creamery welcomed guests throughout Sunday afternoon, including some people who pass it every day and were interested in learning more about the business.
"Having something different and learning about something different is really intriguing to me," Samantha Teevo, who lives in Turner, said.
"I hope that there's some images that stick with them and some stories that stick with them the next time they're in the grocery store or sitting down to a delicious dinner with their family," Bullard said. "You know what, I have a sense of the hard work that went into making that food, and I have some actual faces and actual names of folks that were involved in that."
The event was sponsored by Maine's Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry.