The Morrison Family Farm: Still influential and Prepared
1884
The Morrison Farm has been in operation since 1743, and has always been an important part of the community. (IMAGE #1 here) “My grandfather Morrison... owned from the water control building on Route #2 from the road where his house is located,” Ms. Mildred McChesney explained in an interview.
They have changed much over the years to the farm people they are today. They have farmed grains and meat in the past. However now they are changing the game again. By doing this, they are keeping the title of the most well-known farm in this area today.
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Competitive Farms too close together?:
The Morrisons have began to farm dairy. When farms in this area began farming grains, it became too difficult to make money because of how much grain was already available.. With so many people farming and selling grains it became almost impossible to find people who were willing to buy it. In order to sell their products people began having to travel extremely long distances. This made it much more difficult for farmers. They either had to get it to the location themselves (which took away farming time) or they had find people to do it for them which cost them money that they might not have had.
A Change for the Better.
To solve this problem, the Morrisons switched to meat products. In this area, they were the first farm to make the change which is when they became more commonly known and followed. While selling meat products worked for a long time for the Morrison family, eventually other people began to make the switch as well. This made it yet again difficult for farmers in this area to make money, as it became a more common industry. With the farms again following the Morrison’s lead, they switched shortly after. This made it a competitive market once again.
Preparing for the Future and Learning from the Past:
Their switch to dairy has been very successful so far. Just looking at the butter, they have produced 1326 pounds from only 10 cows and several women churning the butter on the family run farm. To add to that, so far this year, they have sold $50 worth of eggs. Comparing that to the competition, the Morrisons are drastically beating the competition in dairy because nobody else has switched yet. However, the competition has the upperhand on the Morrison family in grain sales. This being due to the Morrisons focus on primarily dairy. By the Morrisons switching, this makes it a little easier for the other farmers to trade and sell their grain. It creates less competition. The Morrisons do not seem to be bothered by the decrease in the grain sales because they are very pleased with their dairy sales. As for the meat products, the Morrisons have kept up with the other farms in this category. However, predictions from other family run farms in this area suggest that sooner rather than later, the Morrisons will also drop behind on that.
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The Man with the Voice:
This decision was made by the current owner of the farm, Robert Morrison. (Image #2)Robert felt as though switching what products they sell now, will not only help their family, but the other farms as well. In the lives of the farmers in this area, as of right now,Robert Morrison is probably the most influential farmer to them. He showed them that sometimes by taking chances, you might make out better than you started out. However, he also shows that it takes time to make these decisions and it needs to be a rational choice.
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Why change?:
For the Morrison farm the switch has been extremely beneficial. They no longer have competition in what they are selling. The demand has gone up drastically since it is now more easily accessible and people use it more often. Also, with continuing their production in grain and a little bit of meat products, the Morrison family has now added opportunities for them to increase their income.
In addition to an increased income, the Morrison family has now become even more influential in the eyes of their fellow farmers. It would not be a huge surprise if slowly, other farms began to also change to that of dairy farming. However, with this in mind, the Morrison’s have changed now three times. Therefore, what would they begin to produce and sell next?
New Plans for the Farm:
The Morrison family has decided that if needed, they will take chances like this again. . As much as changing what they focused on farming was difficult for the Morrison family, they ended up doing better than what they had been achieving. Robert Morrison, has acknowledged in an interview that this was one of the best decisions that their family could have made for the farm. They plan to discuss further plans with one another before making decisions since it seems to be working quite well.
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Upcoming Events on Morrisons Farm:
The Morrison family is inviting close friends who are interested to come to their farm to officially try and taste their new products. The tasting will be through a dinner. This dinner is going to be prepared from all of their farm grown products. This meal will therefore consist of grains, meats and now dairy. The Morrisons are asking that everybody who plans to attend, let them know so that they can prepare the food for their guests. This dinner is going to be significant, in the fact that it is showing the Morrison family’s change to dairy products.
-Gabriella Cellucci
(Rensselaer County Historical Society)
(Rensselaer County Historical Society)
(Brunswick Town Hall)
(Rensselaer County Historical Society)