Iowa Farm Bureau County presidents got a taste of alternative agriculture ventures on a 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 in 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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