Cabot Creamery Cooperative

Don Dimock wanted to be a dairy farmer ever since working on his uncle’s farm as a teenager, and he set his course early in life. After graduating from the agricultural program at the University of Connecticut in 1963, he worked on a dairy farm in Massachusetts for eight years to gain experience in dairy farming. Don and his wife Martha were both anxious to get their own place, however, and they finally found it in Peru, New York. They purchased the Dimock Farm in 1971 and were off and running with 60 cows and 275 acres. Along the way, Don and Martha raised four children, worked full time on the farm, and purchased three neighboring farms. Their son Bruce is now a partner in the operation, their daughter Anne works full-time on the farm, and Bruce’s son Sam started working full-time after graduating college. They now have three generations working side-by-side, and they have increased to 270 cows and 600 acres.

In many ways, the Dimocks view their farm as a community trust, and they have always encouraged visitors to the farm. When Anne’s daughter Steffany studied veterinary technology in high school, they would often have students on the farm learning technical procedures and watching other operations. For years, they have had a group of special education students visit and learn things hands-on like feeding the calves, as well as hosting a second grade class from a neighboring school for several years. Friends, neighbors, and interested passers-by are a regular sight on the farm, and the Dimocks will jump off the tractor on a minute’s notice to let them experience a view of life on a dairy farm.

And the Dimock Farm is a great place for the serious students to learn from the best. For over twenty years, the farm has earned the “Super Milk” award in New York for the high quality of its milk. Not only that, in 2007 the farm won the “Overall Quality” award from Agri-Mark. The Dimock Farm was selected as the best farm out of some 1,300 farms in the Agri-Mark family for the quality of their milk. Says Don, “This is due in large measure to the attention we pay to cow health and comfort. We take great pride in maintaining clean equipment and clean and neat barns. We provide a comfortable environment for our cows, and they seem to appreciate it. The always reward us with great milk.”