A New Face at the Dairy

“I've always had this fantasy of getting the barns full of hay for winter, then just quietly heading out,” chuckles Dairy Manager Sam Dixon about stepping back from his day-to-day role at Shelburne Farms. 

He’s earned the fantasy. Over the past 30 years, Sam has been stewarding Shelburne Farms’ healthy Brown Swiss cows, their high quality milk, and the farm’s rich pastures. He’s also helped thousands of students, educators, and visitors better understand dairy farming, from the soils on up.

Now Joe Donegan, a local organic/raw milk dairy farmer, will help carry all that success forward as our new Dairy & Livestock Farm Manager, responsible for our pasture-raised dairy, beef, and sheep operations. But the handoff is unhurried. 

“It’s a slow roll,” says Joe. “I’m getting to know the farm staff by working shoulder to shoulder with them and just soaking up what they’re sharing.” 

“Joe didn’t want to just jump on a tractor here,” explains Sam. “He wanted to really get to know everybody, and how things work. So he’s been doing the milking to get a sense for the livestock. After that,” Sam spells out, “there’s the land, the equipment, the interface with all the programs—all these layers to work through.”

“But Joe has farmed,” Sam adds. “And he’s farmed in this area so he knows about the weather, and the soils. We’re really lucky.”   

“I grew up in Hinesburg,” Joe shares, “and spent my life playing in the woods, fishing, or chasing pigeons and swimming at my grandparents farm there. Farming was always just fun to me.” But he wrestled in college with how to reconcile his faith—and a life of service–with his desire to farm. Farming didn’t come out on top necessarily. Rather, as Joe explains, “I saw how service and farming could be complimentary, and I kind of married the two in my mind.” 

Joe returned to Hinesburg and built a successful organic dairy farm with his wife. But not overnight. “I naively thought I could farm, and I just jumped into it,” Joe remembers. “It was a real rocky start. My wife and I wallowed our way through a lot of learning.” But the learning paid off. And after years of operating an organic dairy, they transitioned to raw milk, then to a hybrid model of custom grazing, haying, and beef cattle.

So why Shelburne Farms? “It’s dynamic here,” Joe says. “There’s more room for ideas—like the potential for warm-season native perennials as forage. That’s an itch I’ve been wanting to scratch.” More broadly, he articulates, “I just bring a fresh set of eyes and a fresh set of questions. I like the healthy holistic whole, the bird's eye view. Hopefully, I can collaborate and inspire those I’m working with to go somewhere together.”

For Sam’s part, he won't be heading out leaving a barn full of hay. Instead, he is transitioning to a new role, working closely with Joe as our Farmlands Stewardship Manager. “This is an iconic Vermont farm,” he reflects. “To have had the opportunity to manage this place for 30 years has been a great privilege. I’m happy Joe will have the same chance.”

Joe will be moving to Shelburne Farms and starting full time in August.