The new American farmer

If the average farmer is American Gothic, Travis Forgues is decidedly postmodern: He wears denim shirts and stone-washed bluejeans. His hair hangs down to his shoulders. He is 28 years old.

Even in the gray light of winter, when a harsh wind pounds the flatland here on the Canadian border, Mr. Forgues (pronounced forgs) relishes being outdoors with his cows. In a vain effort to corral his heifers for a photograph, the young farmer runs among them, playfully kicking snow onto their hooves.

In a business known for its unforgiving hours and grueling repetition - a business in which the average practitioner is older than most clergy - Forgues's youthfulness stands out. But many nearby colleagues also add that Forgues has a veteran farmer's principles, combined with a commitment to reform. He is an organic dairy farmer, which means he doesn't treat his cows with antibiotics and hormones or feed them grain grown with pesticides. The organic alternatives require more time and more up-front costs, but they also result in milk that many consumers view as a premium product worth paying for.

As Forgues sees it, the organic model allows farmers to operate with the best interests of the animals and the earth in mind, while making enough money to stay out of debt.

It's an equation many believe can help ward off the demise of America's family-operated dairy farms, which are collapsing by the thousands in the face of larger competitors.

Yet even as sales grow, the organic-milk movement faces an identity crisis. The participation of at least one giant organic-milk producer, small-farm advocates say, threatens to overshadow the local, family-focused character of organics with the bland, big-profit motives of corporate America.

Farming was organic by definition until advances in agricultural chemistry took place after World War II.

The resurgence of organic dairy farming has its roots in the 1960s back-to-the-land ethic. Its first adherents were not flinching at the use of chemicals and antibiotics so much as embracing a more "natural" way of life.

Such was the attraction for the Forgues family, hard-working contrarians with an affection for simpler times. When Henry Forgues, Travis's father, bought a 240-acre homestead here abutting Lake Champlain in the early 1970s, his intention was to raise a family. Producing milk was secondary.

In 1991, Travis went to college with no expectation of becoming a farmer. "It wasn't even a reality, we hadn't even talked about it," he says.

That was until a wave of grass-roots reform swept through Vermont's farmlands. The elder Forgues soon became a pioneer in the cow-grazing movement, which called on farmers to let their cows eat pasture grass rather than chemically treated feed.

In 1994, the Forgues family began advocating land preservation, and sold development rights for their own land to the state. The spirit of rural progressivism drew Travis back to the farm after college. He and his wife, Amy, soon bought a tiny blue house next door.

"Dad and I began to consider ourselves stewards of our farm, not farmers," says Forgues.

The family soon spoke with The Organic Cow of Vermont - New England's first organic milk label - about contributing to the company's initial milk pool. Going organic seemed like a natural, profitable evolution.

The emergence of organic practices has given struggling farmers like the Forgueses a new financial lifeline. Other organic products include beef, cereals, eggs, fruits and vegetables, and even frozen dinners. The organic market as a whole is growing by $20 million each year, according to the Organic Trade Association, with dairy accounting for much of the interest.

Now, most organic dairy farmers earn about $20 for 100 pounds of milk - the common commercial unit of sale. That's about $5 more than conventional dairy farmers, whose earnings have remained flat for 20 years. During that time, however, the cost of machinery, feed, and cattle has risen.

The consequence: Since 1991, the number of dairy operations in Vermont has decreased by 35 percent - with a decline of more than 40 percent nationwide - according to the Agriculture Department.

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