NH Outlook Talk Show , Friday, 8/13/2010
script iconHello/Intro script iconWeb Promo
script iconFarms PKG script iconKey: Agriculture
script iconFuture of Farms script iconKey: Business / Industry
script iconThanks/Goodbye script iconKey: Consumerism

script iconHello/Intro
Return to index of stories... 		Hello. I'm Richard Ager. Welcome to NH Outlook. For nearly four centuries, it has been an icon of American agriculture. Now the Tuttle farm in Dover, the oldest family farm in America, is up for sale. The sale has raised questions about the future of the family farm, especially one so steeped in history.
script iconFarms PKG
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Track: It all began in 1632 with a small grant of land - 20 acres in Dover - given by King Charles to John Tuttle, aged 17 of Devonshire, England. Tuttle proved lucky - his ship was wrecked but he survived to claim his land and found the oldest surviving family farm in the nation. Over the centuries, the farm grew and prospered.
Bite: Tuttle Disk 17:01.01 I think, you know, it's always been really lucky that someone has wanted to stay on. I'm sure that, you know, the first, second, third, fourth generation, you know everybody just stayed where they were during the times in the 1600s and 1700s and so on. And there was always somebody who wanted to continue because, you know, that's what you did. You all lived together in one house and everybody went out and did the work and the youngest son or at least one of the sons would be there to carry on. I'm sure nobody ever said "we are going to be here for 11 generations, isn't that cool." And in fact, it really wasn't until my grandfather's time that there was any particular recognition of the fact that 'wow, we've been here for a long time.'
Track: Lucy's grandfather, William Penn Tuttle, was the 9th generation. Under his leadership, the farm greatly expanded to over 200 acres. It had become a local institution, and some of its children began to wander.
Bite: Tuttle Disk 17:01.59:23 Well I'll tell you, I ran away, and really didn't want to be down on my hands and knees picking anymore. I had done that enough I thought during my childhood growing up here.
Bite: Tuttle Disk 17:01.46:02 YOU KNOW THERE WAS AN OLD SONG THAT WENT SOMETHING LIKE 'HOW ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP THEM DOWN ON THE FARM ONCE THEY'VE SEEN PARIS?' WELL IN YOUR CASE, YOU HAD MANY CHANCES TO SEE PARIS, YOU LIVED IN FRANCE FOR SEVEN YEARS. HOW DID YOU END UP BACK ON THE FARM?
Bite: Tuttle Disk 17:02;05 as the time went on, in France, I realized that I really had something special. 17:02.18:14 Most of the people that I knew did not have something to go back to, and as I got older I began to value that more. And came back and spent a couple of months here, here and there, mostly in the summer, and really began to feel the pull of my heritage, and a real wanting to be here with my family.
Track: And so Lucy and her brother Will returned in the 70's- as their father Hugh - the 10th generation - was considering closing down the farm. It was a big story in a national magazine. And and the brother and sister worked on modernizing the farm for another 40 years, adding this very high end farm stand.
Bite: Tuttle Disk 16:58.35 WHEN YOU LOOK OUT HERE AND THINK ABOUT IT NO LONGER BEING YOURS, WHAT'S YOUR FEELING?
Bite: Tuttle Disk 16:58.45:02 It's very surreal. I can't even begin to express what it feels like. I can't imagine it not being ours anymore. It's going to be something that will take some definite getting used to. You know, I grew up here, all of my memories are here, or most of my memories are here, I've spent the last 40 years working here, and in the last couple of years I've spent some time working outside on my days off from the store. And it's been very wonderful to be out in the peacefulness and, you know, thinking 'Boy right here where I'm standing now, my father stood and did the same thing that I'm doing. 16:59.26:23 And my grandfather stood and did it, and his father, and so on and so on all the way back. It's an amazing feeling of connectedness and purpose, and really quite a wonderful sense that you get of continuity and so on.
END OF SCRIPT
script iconFuture of Farms
Return to index of stories... 		Joining our pannel are
Lucy Tuttle, co-owner of the Tuttle farm,
Lorraine Stewart Merrill, NH Commissioner of Agriculture.
And Dave Tuttle, Owner of Riverside Farm in Maine.
1: LUCY - THIS NEARLY CLOSED UNTIL YOU AND YOUR BROTHER RETURNED IN THE 70'S - AND MADE A LOT OF CHANGES. WHAT'S DIFFERENT THIS TIME?
2: AS YOU LOOK FOR POTENTIAL BUYERS, DO YOU EXPECT ANOTHER FAMILY TO BE INTERESTED? THIS IS A MEDIUM SIZE FARM - TOO BIG FOR A FAMILY BUT TOO SMALL FOR A CORPORATE OPERATION?
NEED MORE EMPLOYEES THAN YOU HAVE FAMILY MEMBERS.
3: YOU GOT A HUGE AMOUNT OF ATTENTION FROM THE MEDIA - NEW YORK TIMES, CBS, ASSOCIATED PRESS. WHAT DO YOU THINK TOUCHED A NERVE. FEAR THAT THIS SYMBOLIZES THE END OF THE FAMILY FARM?
4: WHAT SORT OF PERSONAL REACTIONS DID YOU GET - YOU TOLD ME ABOUT A LETTER …
I READ A MORE CYNICAL BLOGGER WHO MADE THE CASE THAT THIS IS A FAKE NOSTALGIA - FOR A WAY OF LIFE VERY FEW OF US EVER PURSUED. ALL THREE OF YOU ARE FARMERS. HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO BEING - SAY - AN ACCOUNTANT.
5: DAVE - YOU WERE JOKING THAT YOUR FARM IS A LOT YOUNGER - ONLY 267 YEARS OLD. YOU'RE REMAINING IN BUSINESS WITH A FARM THAT HAS SUPPORTED TWO SONS AND A DAUGHTER AND THEIR FAMILIES. HOW HAVE YOU ADAPTED TO CHANGING TIMES?
WE WERE ABOUT 85% WHOLESALE - NOW 85% RETAIL.
6: THE BASIC QUESTION - WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF THE FAMILY FARM?
CONNECTION TO FARMERS MARKETS.
LUCY - YOU WERE QUOTED AS SAYING YOU HAD "LOVINGLY DISCOURAGED" YOUR CHILDREN FROM TRYING TO DO WHAT YOU DID. WHY?
WHAT'S NEXT FOR YOU?
?
script iconThanks/Goodbye
Return to index of stories... 		That is all the time we have.
Lucy Tuttle, co-owner of the Tuttle Farm,
Lorraine Stewart Merrill, NH Commissioner of Agriculture.
And Dave Tuttle, owner of Riverside Farm in Maine.
That's it for this edition of NH Outlook. I'm Richard Ager, I'll see you next time.
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script iconKey: Agriculture
Return to index of stories... 		NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 8/13/2010
HOST: Richard Ager Length: 26:40
Hello. I'm Richard Ager. Welcome to NH Outlook. For nearly four centuries, it has been an icon of American agriculture. Now the Tuttle farm in Dover, the oldest family farm in America, is up for sale. The sale has raised questions about the future of the family farm, especially one so steeped in history.
PRODUCER/REPORTER: Richard Ager NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Lucy Tuttle\Co-Owner, Tuttle Farm, Lorraine Stewart Merrill\NH Commissioner of Agriculture, Dave Tuttle\Owner, Riverside Farm.
script iconKey: Business / Industry
Return to index of stories... 		NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 8/13/2010
HOST: Richard Ager Length: 26:40
Hello. I'm Richard Ager. Welcome to NH Outlook. For nearly four centuries, it has been an icon of American agriculture. Now the Tuttle farm in Dover, the oldest family farm in America, is up for sale. The sale has raised questions about the future of the family farm, especially one so steeped in history.
PRODUCER/REPORTER: Richard Ager NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Lucy Tuttle\Co-Owner, Tuttle Farm, Lorraine Stewart Merrill\NH Commissioner of Agriculture, Dave Tuttle\Owner, Riverside Farm.
script iconKey: Consumerism
Return to index of stories... 		NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 8/13/2010
HOST: Richard Ager Length: 26:40
Hello. I'm Richard Ager. Welcome to NH Outlook. For nearly four centuries, it has been an icon of American agriculture. Now the Tuttle farm in Dover, the oldest family farm in America, is up for sale. The sale has raised questions about the future of the family farm, especially one so steeped in history.
PRODUCER/REPORTER: Richard Ager NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Lucy Tuttle\Co-Owner, Tuttle Farm, Lorraine Stewart Merrill\NH Commissioner of Agriculture, Dave Tuttle\Owner, Riverside Farm.
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