Loss of Farmland Gets Her Goat

Like many teenagers, Rebecca Wilson starts her day early. That can happen when you are a senior at Grafton High School and work a part-time job.

But at 6 a.m. every day, before she heads to classes and work, she cares for seven Nigerian dwarf goats that she keeps in a backyard pen. The animals provide milk for her family.

She feeds and waters the goats and ensures that they are healthy, which can be a challenge. Goats are prey animals and so will hide signs of illness, forcing owners to be vigilant and knowledgeable.

She takes her work with these animals seriously, spending about an hour and a half each day tending the goats. Her love of animals and farm life prompted her to start the town’s Agricultural Commission in May 2010.

And when she recently turned 18, she became an official commission member with voting powers. Prior to that, she was an advisory member.

She became concerned about the declining amount of agricultural land in town as she saw former farms being converted to condos and other uses. “It’s kind of scary,’’ she said.

She was inspired by her volunteer efforts with Heifer International, a worldwide organization with a farm in Rutland that encourages people in poverty throughout the world to raise animals and to teach the skills to their neighbors.

The commission encourages the pursuit of agriculture in town. Their official charge is to promote agriculture-based economic opportunities in town; act as mediators, advocates, educators, and/or negotiators on farming issues for established town committees and departments; and pursue all initiatives appropriate to creating a sustainable agricultural community.

Wilson said the commission works to connect farmers in an effort to preserve farmland. For example, she said, if a farmer needs assistance plowing a field, the commission can help find the needed resources.

“If you look at Grafton [today], you can’t see the agricultural history, but there definitely is a history,’’ she said. She hopes to talk to veteran farmers and research the town’s agricultural history to develop a resource on the town’s rural roots.

She also hopes her work on the commission will inspire other young people to consider the importance of farming. “It’s hard to get young people into it, but I think we need to,’’ she said. They need to “see how much work it is to get the food you buy at the grocery store,’’ she said.

But even in Grafton, which has its rural areas, she said only a handful of her classmates are involved in agriculture, and most of those are involved in horse farms.

She also wants to see more American farms. “I read somewhere that there are more prisoners in the United States than farmers,’’ she said. But, she said, the United States “can’t rely on other countries’’ for its food supply.

Doing that is risky, she said, because the looser regulations in other countries can lead to less safe food and potential recalls.

She hopes to become a veterinarian, perhaps working with large animals. But she knows one thing: She always plans to be involved in some aspect of farming.

“Now that I’ve had them, I can’t imagine not having a farm,’’ she said of the goats she tends. “Once you get in it, it’s hard to get out.’’

Her future plans include wide open spaces; urban living is definitely not for her, she said.

“I don’t even like visiting the city,’’ she said.