The New Face of Farming

Vermont, land of milk and apples, diversifies its agricultural products

Strictly Business

Plenty to wine about

In 1996 Phil Tonks began producing a hard cider in the barn next to what is now Grandview Winery in East Calais. Today the family winery produces around 30,000 bottles of award-winning rhubarb, pear, cherry, dandelion ("Eight cups of petals makes one gallon," he says) and other wines.

Tonks learned early on -- he's been dabbling in winemaking for 30-odd years -- that growing grapes in Vermont is a challenge, an unnecessary one given the abundance of available fruit in the state. "My own feeling is to to specialize in things that grow easily in Vermont. Take our pear wine. By buying my pears from a local farm I'm doing more to help agriculture because I'm not competing with it."

Tonks says there are plenty of people who are growing fruits in the state just looking for outlets. "I've got an older couple in South Hero growing currents; it's supplementing their retirement. We are such a small state that we all need to work together."

He says the number of artisan food manufacturers in the state is growing all the time, and he credits the Agency of Agriculture, in part, with this increase. "I think there's a shift of emphasis with the new secretary (Roger Allbee). I think this secretary is much more inclined to think that these value-added products are very good for agriculture and he's encouraging them."

Tonk's vision of the future of agriculture in Vermont? "I realize dairy dominates everything here, but I think the specialty cheese is a huge growth opportunity. Emus? that's a good example of thinking outside of the box."