Iowa Farm Bureau county presidents got a taste of alternative agriculture ventures on tour of Vermont agricultural operations.

Inside the dense forests of central Vermont, where sugar maple trees blanket the mountainous terrain, sits a nearly century-old sugar shack producing some of the world’s finest maple syrup the old-fashioned way, enhanced by modern ingenuity and technology.

“My grandparents moved here in the late 1930s … They were dairy farmers and sugar makers,” said Marilyn Lambert of the Silloway family, which still operates a 65-cow organic dairy along with a flourishing maple syrup business sourced from thousands of taps across Randolph Center-area timber.

“Back in the day, my grandfather would tap all the trees with buckets,” Lambert explained. “Today, we tap about 29,000 trees … and have about 140-plus miles of sugaring lines through the woods. I think we have a reputation … for making the best syrup in the world.”

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