Country Living
Swansea dairy farmers milk their old-fashioned image
Herald News - Penny Humphrey, Reporter - Summer, 2001
It was just another normal summer week for James and Beverlyann Simcock, owners of Simcock Farm on Marvel Street. Beverlyann, a professional violinist, was learning music to play at a Block Island wedding. James Simcock was driving a tractor load of hay and watching the farm's fat goat , Emily, shoulder aside two heifers that outweighed her to eat their hay. "Everyone gives her ice cream cones,"Simcock said.
The farm, a blend of old and new, is a fourth generation farm and one of only two dairies left in Swansea. It includes ice cream and vegetable stands and pick-your-own Italian plum tomatoes in late summer. From the time he was a boy, Simcock worked on the farm. It was more than a job. "I love the farm - being your own boss and seeing something from beginning to end," Simcock said.
This spring, Simcock , who's trained as an auto mechanic, committed himself to the family owned land and bought the farm and his fathers shares in other family owned land. He became the sole owner of the dairy herd, the ice cream store that is on the property and the vegetable business. The farm holds 28 acres of vegetables, 36 acres of silage corn, 42 cows and 13 heifers who look warily at strangers. Simcock and his wife are using the old ways to work with the land and make a living as Simcock's father, grandfather and great-grandfather did before him. They're also finding ways to diversify and fit into niche markets. For example, Beverlyann Simcock raises flowers to cut and sell in bouquets. Next year, the couple plan to raise more herbs. Beverlyann also finds time in her professional career to do the bookkeeping and ordering, to run the vegetable and ice cream stands and even pick crops.
The farm's animals include a dog and cats, along with chickens, rabbits, goats and the cows - whose milk serves two purposes. Simcock sells the milk itself. But for years, part of the milk has returned to the farm after it has been made into ice cream at the Windsor Dairy in Johnston, RI."We've been selling ice cream since 1983,"Simcock said. Ice cream also brought the Simcocks, who have been married seven years, together. Beverlyann, who is from Somerset, said she met her husband at the stand."I used to be there all the time,"she said.The couple sells vegetables wholesale in Providence and Boston, but Simcock wants to sell more locally. Besides the vegetable stand, Simcock sells his carefully tended Italian plum tomatoes as a pick-your-own crop.
Meanwhile, the Simcocks occasionally leave their farm for a hobby they both enjoy: motorcycle racing. In 1999 and 2000, Simcock has won the Enduro Championship race, a 100 mile race through all kinds of terrain and obstacles. But even for these outings he does not forget his farm."I got up and milked before 3:30 am so I could go,"he said.