George DeGroot, left, and his son Jack. (Photo courtesy of Bill Truran)
Holsteins ready for milking on the DeGroot farm in Wantage.
Most of us love Sussex County as a wonderful place to live. Among its many attributes are the farmers.
Farmers have been here since the beginning of our history, and farmers are one of the most important aspects of our county.
Some of the most outstanding images I have during my lifetime are of the visits that I have made to our county farms. I recall the many fields of green grass with grazing cows. These were mostly Holsteins, which are good for supplying milk.
When I was a kid, we hiked and camped in the nearby farm fields. In the summer, we would get together in a field on top of the hill where we would play games of pickup baseball, using shirts and skins for the teams and putting a T-shirt down for a base.
When hitting a ball, an outfielder might be slower than normal, depending on the height of the grass versus the number of cow patties scattered around the playing field.
Beyond my childhood experiences, the point of this column is to represent, in a small way, the importance of farmers to our county.
I had the good fortune to interview the DeGroots. Their farm is in Wantage on Libertyville Road, a road aptly named for Sussex County. Libertyville Road also is part of the Deckertown Turnpike, which from the early 1800s served as access, over the grand Kittatinny Ridge, to the Delaware.
From there, many people went to inhabit the Midwest and extend the reaches of the United States. A beautiful sight is seen from the turnpike.
George DeGroot was very enthusiastic about his farm. He and Jack are so proud of their work. Farming is not an easy task, and it goes on each day without ceasing. Cows need to be milked, and animals need to be fed. Planting, maintenance and harvest come at the cycle of the seasons.
Farmers need to be hardy and resolute, and George and Jack are certainly so. Jack showed me the new goats he has that will rest near the road. Farm produce will be sold in the seasons they become ready at a fruit and vegetable stand.
My visit was on March 27, and there was snow on the ground. Hay was spread for feeding and the cows were in their stalls for milking. We had a great conversation about the land George needs to tend to and other acres he takes care of for the state.
Walking through the barn, George provided some details about the tasks at hand. There are 78 Holstein cows - half of them are for milking with the other half on rotation and may be calving. His Holsteins are good for milk production while other farms have Jerseys for butter and cheese.
George has a dozen Herefords for beef. There are 45 acres that he tends to. Work is virtuous and never done.
Although farms are essential - we all need to eat, in New Jersey, farms are dwindling. There is high risk with the many expensive assets of the farm and there’s the dependency on rain and sun, season length and weather catastrophes.
It is certainly a full-time job, and fewer people are willing to pursue farming as generations progress. Dairymen need to work together.
There are only about 30 farms like DeGroot’s in the state. There used to be eight working farms on Libertyville Road, and now there’s only his.
Thank you to the DeGroots for the interview and thank you for being farmers and supplying our food!
Bill Truran, Sussex County’s historian, may be contacted at billt1425@gmail.com