Explore the Farm
Meet the farm, the people, the animals, and the land we care for.
Billings Farm & Museum is a living, working dairy farm where Vermont farming traditions and hands-on learning come to life every day.
A legacy of stewardship is woven into everything we do. Our dedicated farm team cares for the animals, pastures, gardens, and historic landscape while continuing the tradition of responsible agriculture. Visitors can meet the animals up close, observe the farm’s daily operations, and see sustainable farming practices in action.
From early morning chores to late afternoon milking and everything in between, our farm team keeps the farm thriving.
Making Hay While the Sun Shines
When the weather is just right, the farm team heads to the fields to cut, rake, and bale hay. From square bales flying from the baler into the hay wagon, to wrapped round bales, each harvest is carefully timed and stored to provide nutritious feed for our animals throughout the long winter months.
Gardens Grow More Than Flowers
From seedlings nurtured in the garden shed greenhouse to flourishing heirloom, sensory, and natural dye gardens, every planting has a purpose. Our gardener and education team connect visitors to history, pollinators, food, art, and hands-on learning, showing how gardens inspire curiosity and creativity.
Wander the Sunflower House
During mid-August to early-September, thousands of blooming sunflowers transform a piece of the farm into a living labyrinth. Created and tended by the Woodstock Inn & Resort Kelly Way Garden Team, the Sunflower House invites visitors to discover blooms ranging from 1-foot tall cuties, to towering 18-foot giants, in shades of every color from golden yellow, orange, and crimson.
A Taste of the Orchard
Perched on the hillside overlooking the farm, our apple orchard is home to more than 50 varieties of apples, each with its own unique flavor, color, and character. Wander among the tress, pick an apple from the branch, and enjoy the views of the surrounding gardens and pastures. In the fall, visitors can sample different varieties during our Apple Tasting programs and try their hand at making cider on an old-fashioned apple press.
Get to know the Jersey cows, Southdown sheep, Angora goats, and chickens that call our working dairy farm home.
Regenerative agricultural practices strengthen our resilience against climate impacts, safeguard our watershed and wildlife habitat, and ensure we have healthy pastures and quality hay to feed our animals.
We practice rotational grazing, which reduces stress on the grasses while promoting healthier soil and reducing potential for erosion. No-till drill seeding also helps keep the soil healthy and reduces the loss of topsoil. We plant trees along our riparian buffer to mitigate the impact of heavy rains and flooding on our hay fields. Our farm uses pollinator-friendly practices, providing forage and blooms for pollinators throughout the growing season and employing low to no use of pesticides.
Walk through the fields and along the river.
Follow our walking path beyond the pasture fences, gardens, and into the Great Meadow, along the Ottauquechee River.
Beginning near the sheep and goat pasture, this one mile walk winds through open meadows offering sweeping views of the farm, birdwatching, and a chance to see the changing beauty of the fields and river corridor throughout the seasons. Interpretive signs along the grassy pathway share stories about the landscape, local ecology, and farming practices that shape the land.
Taste cheese crafted from our Jersey milk.
Our farmstead cheeses are crafted with milk from our Jersey cows, the same cows that folks get to meet when they visit the farm.
Made from the raw milk of our grass and grain-fed Jersey cows, Billings Farm cheeses reflect a tradition of thoughtful farming and Vermont cheesemaking. From our mild Butter Cheddar to the slightly sharp Woodstock Reserve Cheddar to our award-winning Smoked Cheddar, each cheese is carefully crafted and naturally aged to develop rich flavor and character.
