Cows at the Coon Brothers' farm munch on molasses feed until they feel the need to mosy to the brand-new robotic milkers that automatically extract milk from their udders.
AMENIA — Amid unanimous favorable reports from the herd, Coon Brothers dairy farm in Amenia held an open barn on Sunday, Dec. 1, inviting contractors and friends to visit the cows and see their new automatic milking system that has brought robotics to the modern dairy industry.
Coon Brothers has used GEA equipment for milking over the years, so co-owners Peter and Amos Coon indicated that GEA Dairy Robot equipment was chosen to automate their operation, requiring a long period of construction.
The preceding year had been given to renovating the barns in preparation for installation of the robotic equipment that began in the spring and continued into July. Six robotic milking stations have been installed and all are now kept busy throughout the day.
Fully automated milking systems have been installed at Coon Brothers Farm in Amenia. Computers at each milking station monitor quantity and quality. Visitors were invited to an open barn tour on Sunday, Dec. 1, to see the new systems at work.Photo by Leila Hawken
Each cow decides for herself when to go in for milking, the decision prompted by discomfort. Observation showed that the cows placidly await their turns without disagreements or jostling for position.
“The difference is the cow’s comfort,” Amos explained. “Now they are getting milked when they want to,” he added.
The farm has a population of 600 animals with 350 milk cows, including Guernseys and Holsteins, divided between two barns, Peter Coon said.
“The system is better for the cows and it will save labor,” said Coon. “and the cows seem to like it.”
The computerized system monitors each cow, recognizing individuals by a computer chip attached to the cow’s collar. During each milking session, the cow’s milk production and quality of the milk are instantly measured and tested, with any problems detected and dealt with.
The system isolates and collects data from each quarter of the cow’s udder.
Cows residing in the milking barn are there all the time, Amos Coon said. “The new system has changed how we do everything.”
In the barn the cows munch on molasses flavored silage but get a treat in the milking stall in the form of custom grain.
Milk output is measured in pounds, not gallons. One cow can produce 20 pounds of milk in a single milking session, Amos explained. They go for milking more than once a day; some cows may give as much as 140 pounds of milk in a single day. Genetics contribute to a top-producing cow, Amos said.
A cow that has recently calved gives more milk, with increased production lasting 50-200 days. A newborn calf will only suckle for 12 hours before being shifted to manual feeding of bovine colostrum which is separated from the cow’s milk production by the robotic system.
In the event of a power outage, a generator keeps the systems going.
A large 6,000 gallon milk collection tank holds the milk until a tanker truck takes it away.
Robotic milking is not new to the area. Freund’s Farm in East Canaan has also installed automated milking with good results.
Peter Riva
The short answer is yes for urban areas. The longer answer – for the planet – no, not currently. Here’s why:
1. Oil fired powerplants generate electricity by burning fossil fuels in the form of oil. These are called thermal utility-scale oil-fired plants. They extract energy from the oil. The percentage of energy they extract run only 30% - 40% of the energy the fuel is capable of, so-called “contains.”
2. Gas fired powerplants generate electricity by burning gaseous forms of fossil fuels – mostly “natural gas” piped up from the ground reserves. These are called Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) systems. They extract energy from the gas using gas turbines. The percentage of energy they extract run only 33% - 60% of the energy the fuel is capable of -- depending on whether the newer plants have Heat Recovery Steam Generators added where they approach 60% efficiency.
3. Coal fired powerplants generate electricity by burning fossil fuels in the form of hard coal. The percentage of energy they extract runs only 30% - 45% - the 45% plants are ultra modern plants of which there are very few.
4. The USA overall average electricity production by powerplants using fossil fuels is an approximate fuel efficiency rating of 42%.
5. Atomic power plants, solar farms, and wind generation are hugely expensive to install and legislate but operate at between 85% and 92% efficiency based on input running costs. That does not include environmental post use or recycling costs for spend radioactive fuel rods which have a half-life of tens of thousands of years.
Putting aside the discussion of transportation (oil, coal, gas moving from mine or well to a powerplant), infrastructure (drilling, mining, pipelines), and never least the financing of refineries and powerplants by Wall Street, the comparison of efficiency for automobiles using either electric or gas/diesel modes, all rely on the overall efficiency of the energy consumption needed per mile. And energy consumption must take into account the efficiency of the engines using the fuel.
Now, it has to be said that electric cars cause less pollution, while running, than diesel or gasoline cars. That is why they are better for urban environments, just as catalytic converters were essential to stop smog related illness in tight urban environments. However, not causing as much pollution in situ does not take into account their consumption of fossil fuels in the production of that electricity and that resultant pollution globally. At best, therefore, electric cars are operating at 42% fuel efficiency and must face fair comparison to the most modern car engines in order to secure the label of “friendly to the environment.”
Mercedes Benz has a test program, as do several other manufacturers and engineering firms. It is called Formula 1 racing. MB produced a car engine that is so efficient it has an output of 50% of the fuel’s potential energy. Coupled with regenerative braking (hit the brakes and you are engaging a generator instead of disc brake coupled with inboard batteries to produce a hybrid system for more efficiency), overall most Formula 1 racing cars average between 60% - 72% efficiency overall depending on track conditions.
When you compare that new fossil fuel engine efficiency of 60%+ to electric cars using current electricity generation averaging 42% efficiency for the same amount of fossil fuels, electric cars have not, yet, reached parity or added benefit for the environment.
Of course, generation of electricity is an investment nightmare but with huge rewards for the whole planet. Electricity is easier to transport to where it is needed than fossil fuels. If you can build a more efficient powerplant, like the nuclear fusion reactors under development that produce no waste, then indeed electric power for cars and all means of transportation is the wiser choice longer term.
But, for the moment, when you see your neighbor’s car burning gasoline or diesel, and you drive an electric car, understand the choices you are making for your local pollution are worthwhile, but overall you may actually be polluting more. The hope is that soon electricity may be generated more efficiently to make your electric car actually environmentally friendly.
Peter Riva, a former resident of Amenia Union, New York, now lives in Gila, New Mexico.
Millerton News
The following excerpts from The Millerton News were compiled by Kathleen Spahn and Rhiannon Leo-Jameson of the North East-Millerton Library.
April 18, 1935
$346.40 Worth Of Clothing Distributed By Red Cross
Clothing distributed to needy families during the past winter by the Town of North East branch of the American Red Cross amounted to $346.40 in value, it was disclosed at a recent meeting when reports were heard on the work accomplished up to the first of April. Eighty-eight garments were made by members of the local branch, representing 174 hours of work.
Authorities Smash Poultry Theft Ring
[Sic] poultry-theft ring which has been operating in the central part of Dutchess County and even as far east as Amenia and Dover Plains was broken last week by Sheriff Hiram C. Carroll’s force and State Troopers. Two men were arrested as they were about to deliver a load of thirty-nine chickens and a teletype alarm was sent out for the alleged leader of the gang. Taken in custody were George Corey, 19, of Washington Hollow and Patterson, charged with third degree burglary, and Malcolm Florence Jr., of Washington Hollow, held as a material witness. Three other youths, including two brothers of the Florence boy, were released after making statements to the sheriff’s attaches.
John Ferris, 54, is sought as the leader of the ring. The teletype description of him was: five feet, nine inches tall; weight about 200 pounds; bald head; when last seen wore high-top brown boots, riding pants, gray coat and soft gray hat.
Finds Balloon, Gets Free Pair of Glasses
Because he picked up the remains of a toy balloon he found in a pasture lot on his farm, Samuel T. Goodman of Avon, Conn., will find it a little easier to read the small type in his newspaper evenings [sic]. Attached to the remnants of the balloon was the business card of Dr. Harry S. Tripp, optometrist of Millerton and Beacon, stating that the finder would receive a free pair of glasses. The balloon was released by Dr. Tripp at the opening of the Brinckeroff Road, in the southern part of Dutchess County, last spring.
Although Dr. Tripp had given up hope of ever learning of the balloon’s fate, he received a letter with the tag enclosed from Mr. Goodman the other day. The farmer will be fitted with a new pair of glasses at Dr. Tripp’s office here.
Farmers May Secure Loans For 1935 Crops
Emergency loans for producing 1935 crops and for the purchase or production of feed for livestock are now available to farmers who can qualify under the regulations, according to recent [sic] announcement. In accordance with the Act of Congress authorizing the loans and regulations issued by Governor W. I. Myers of the Farm Credit Administration, Ioans will be made only to farmers who are unable to obtain elsewhere seed, fertilizers, supplies, feed or the necessary credit to purchase such items. Loans will not be made to applicants who can obtain credit in the amount needed from any other source, including the production credit association.
Any farmer who has the necessary security should apply to the production credit association first. If the association is unable to make him a loan in the amount needed the farmer will receive a statement to that effect and will be considered eligible to apply for a loan from the emergency fund.
The regulations provide that the largest loan to one farmer this year is $500 and the minimum $10, but no loan may be made in an amount greater than is actually needed to cover the cash cost of purchasing seed, fertilizers, supplies, feed, etc. Loans will be made for the purpose of growing and harvesting crops, for summer fallowing, for purchasing feed for livestock; but not for the purpose of purchasing livestock or machinery, or for the payment of debts or taxes.
April 15, 1976
Reading Committee Sponsors Lottery
The Reading Committee of Webutuck Central School is sponsoring a lottery in connection with a special collection of mystery stories and books.
The committee is collecting as many mysteries as they can through loan and donations and will make them available to the students in the Junior-Senior High to borrow.
For each book borrowed and returned, the students will place an index card with their name and a short report into a drum. At the end of the month, there will be a drawing and prizes awarded. The more books read will afford a greater chance of winning a prize.
The Reading Committee requests anyone who has mystery books to donate either leave them at the high school or call the school to arrange to have them picked up (leave a message for Mrs. Longstreth or Mrs. Clark). There will also be a place to leave books in the front hall on the night of the Bicentennial Celebration.
Books will be available for student use April 12 - May 11.
Fire Destroys 80 Acres
A grass fire caused by an overturned garbage incinerator devoured 80 acres of grass and woodland in Gallatin on Saturday, April 10.
The fire started on Saturday morning at the home of Gene Case. According to firemen at the scene the incinerator was in poor condition and it apparently disintegrated.
Milan and Ancram Fire Companies attended the fire which raged for most of the day.
April 19, 2001
Gift Shop/Gallery Relocates in Millerton
MILLERTON - Rhinebeck resident Alyssa Knapp has officially opened the doors of her recently relocated gift shop and art gallery, Luminari.
Ms. Knapp has moved her store from Rhinebeck to Millerton, and is now located on Main Street, adjacent to the Mane Street Salon and next to the Millerton Moviehouse.
Offering a wide variety of gift items, from the classical to the whimsical, Luminari also features local artists’ creations, such as sculptures, paintings and photographs.
Ms. Knapp described Luminari’s offerings as “an eclectic mix.” According to Ms. Knapp, the store harbors “hand-made, one-of-a-kind articles, as well as mass-produced gifts.” Ms. Knapp believes this variety of merchandise allows for a more flexible price range.
“I try to mix it up, so there is always something for everyone,” she said.
Ms. Knapp looks forward to becoming a part of the Millerton community.
“I’m very excited about meeting new people and artists,” added Ms. Knapp. She encourages people to make themselves known to her: “I’m not going to know you’re there if you don’t talk to me, so just come on by.”
Leila Hawken
Liz MacQuarrie began her duties as Adult Programming Assistant at the Amenia Free Library in mid-March, has launched creative new programming.
AMENIA — New adult programming is coming to the Amenia Free Library, led by Adult Programming Assistant and Millbrook native Liz MacQuarrie.
Since beginning her duties in mid-March, MacQuarrie has been learning the ropes of library procedures. She spoke on Thursday, April 9, about her enthusiasm for serving the community and developing adult programs for library users.
“Libraries are more than just books; they’ve become community gathering places where people come together,” MacQuarrie said.
“Curiosity never stops at a library,” MacQuarrie added, indicating that she intends to bring her own creative ideas to serve patrons.
“Black-out Poetry,” as she calls it, is the first such program that is now available in the library’s reading room. Patrons will find everything they need to transform any block of non-fiction text and blacking out all but a few words to create a poem inspired by those few words, MacQuarrie explained.
The text pages are cut from damaged non-fiction books that were about to be discarded. MacQuarrie’s training in the arts led her to realize that poems might be lurking within the text. The words selected can inspire a poem or be incorporated into a drawing.
A sample is on display, and instructions are provided. MacQuarrie notes that it is a passive program in honor of April being National Poetry Month, and the idea repurposes damaged books as instruments of creativity.
Another program that MacQuarrie is managing will bring periodic visits from the Dutchess County Office of the Aging’s mobile help program. Patrons can sign up for 30-minute appointments to meet with an advisor for help with government programs, including Medicare/Medicaid, and more.
The first scheduled visit will be on Thursday, April 23. For more information about the program, go to the library’s website: www.amenialibrary.org.
“It will save patrons from needing to travel distances to access the help,” MacQuarrie said.
MacQuarrie has earned a B.A. degree in Film Studies from Mt. Holyoke College and has experience in documentaries and commercial applications, as well as past work with WBZ news radio in Boston. Her career has taken her to work with the Milwaukee Film Festival, the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
A native of Millbrook, MacQuarrie now resides there with her Chihuahua-Pomeranian mix, Rocko.
“I’m happy to be back home,” MacQuarrie said.
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Nathan Miller
MILLERTON — The Climate Smart Task Force is gearing up for a busy April.
Millerton and North East’s joint Climate Smart Task Force is a group of community volunteers who work to promote green initiatives in the community that earn the town and village points toward grant funding opportunities. The group is part of a statewide initiative known as Climate Smart Communities that promotes environmentally conscious policies at the municipal level.
Committee member Kathy Chow said April is typically an active month for the group because of Earth Day, but this year brings more activity as Millerton seeks certification under the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA initiative.
Chow said the weekend of Saturday, April 18, will be busy for the group. Planned events for Arbor Day and Earth Day will be spread across two weekends.
Chow’s personal favorite is Bulk Trash Day on Saturday, April 18.
“We help everybody unload their car and trailer full of household junk,” Chow said. “It’s just such a happy day.”
On Bulk Trash Day, residents can take bulky items to the town’s old highway garage on South Center Street in the Village of Millerton for a fee. Volunteers will accept furniture, carpeting, lawn equipment, tools, scrap metal and appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners.
Fees will vary depending on vehicle size and item type, with charges ranging from $15 to $60 for vehicles, $20 for items such as mattresses and couches, and $10 to $30 for most appliances. Units containing Freon will cost $30, and oversized items may be accepted at a fee of $50 at the discretion of staff. Tires will also be accepted for recycling at $15 each, with rims permitted.
Payments must be made by cash or check.
That same weekend, the Moviehouse will be hosting a screening of “The Extraordinary Caterpillar.”
“It’s the most spectacular photography you’ve ever seen,” Chow said of the film that explores the lives of insects that are often overlooked in favor of human needs.
Tickets for the event are free. Seats can be reserved at www.themoviehouse.net.
Climate Smart-sponsored activities continue the following weekend with a Repair Cafe at the NorthEast-Millerton Library on Saturday, April 25. Visitors can bring up to two items to be repaired by volunteers with skills in small electronics and appliance repair, textiles and clothing, bicycles and knife sharpening. All repairs are free and five knives count as a single item.
Chow said the task force’s responsibilities spread far beyond planning events. The group’s work has resulted in both Millerton and North East receiving Bronze status in New York State’s Climate Smart Communities initiative, a certification that recognizes the community’s commitment to environmental conservation.
She said reaching that status was no easy feat, as inherent qualities of the town and the village work against the communities.
Chow explained that North East, unlike Millerton, is incapable of adopting green infrastructure like LED streetlights because the town doesn’t actually operate any streetlights and doesn’t have any reason to. Millerton, in contrast to North East, lacks large amounts of open space to actively conserve. Both actions can be important ones in the effort to be certified with the state.
Achieving higher certifications takes labor and expertise, Chow said, and she welcomes anyone in the community with a passion for the environment to join. She especially encourages the overly enthusiastic and quirky to join.
“There’s so many actions that are there to be done,” Chow said.
Nathan Miller
Tri-Corner F.E.E.D. in Millerton.
MILLERTON — Christophe Armero thinks talking about death is a good thing.
That’s why he started a “Death Cafe” at Tri-Corner F.E.E.D., a regular event at the South Center Street store where people are invited to enjoy coffee, cake and casual conversations about death. The next event is scheduled for Wednesday, April 29, at 6 p.m.
Armero described the cafe event as an opportunity for people to freely and openly discuss death with no agenda.
“The more you know about death, the more comfortable you are with death,” Armero said. “The better use you’ll be able to make of your limited life.”
The conversations serve as a form of meditation, Armero said, drawing on the work of Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz. Englishman Jon Underwood further developed these ideas in 2010, creating the Death Cafe model and hosting the first event at his home in England in 2011.
Since then, more than 23,000 Death Cafe events have been held across the globe, according to deathcafe.com, including Armero’s first in Millerton on March 25.
Those interested in attending the upcoming Death Cafe event in April at Tri-Corner F.E.E.D. can sign up by searching for “Millerton Death Cafe” on www.eventbrite.com.
Armero said his recent Death Cafe was the first held in Millerton in more than a decade. A series of gatherings took place in 2013 and 2014 at Irving Farm Coffee House on Main Street, with a handful of additional events in nearby Falls Village and Great Barrington in 2019 and 2020. While interest in Death Cafes has grown, offerings remain scarce within 100 miles of Millerton.
Death Cafes aim to get people talking openly about death and dying, Armero said, but are not intended to serve as grief counseling sessions. Participants are encouraged to steer the conversation in whatever direction they feel comfortable — a central tenet of the Death Cafe philosophy, according to the organization’s website.
“There’s no therapist here telling you what to do,” Armero said. “Everyone here is talking from their own experiences and sharing their stories.”
Death Cafe allows individuals to host their own events under its name and list them on the organization’s website, provided they adhere to its guiding principles. Chief among those are that gatherings have no set agenda, remain confidential and include cake.
Armero said he hopes the conversations will draw a diverse group of participants, and by that measure, the first event in March was a success. He said many attendees are facing an anticipated loss and come seeking to better prepare.
“We had young people, middle-aged people and old people at this meeting,” Armero said. “It was pretty cool how we had a little bit of everything.”
While Death Cafes are not therapy, Armero said the conversations can benefit people anticipating a loss, those who have recently experienced one and even those who have not. He added that while the concept may seem morbid, the conversations themselves are not.
“It’s just regular people who want to know about death,” Armero said.
One common topic at Death Cafes is the process of dying, Armero said. What happens to a person under end-of-life care or in hospice is not commonly discussed, he said, leading to increased strife for family members or loved ones watching someone die.
Armero’s Death Cafe is sponsored by Tri-Corner F.E.E.D. and East Mountain House, a Salisbury, Connecticut, based end-of-life care provider that offers an alternative to hospice care.
East Mountain House operates under Buddhist-influenced philosophies that emphasize meditation and encourage regularly reflecting on death, Armero said. He added that his own experience with Buddhism and meditation led him to Death Cafes and has helped him process grief in his own life.
Armero’s first experience with a significant loss came in 2012 when his son died of suicide at age 19. Armero described that loss as a terrible shock that set him down the path of exploring grief and death and eventually becoming a certified bereavement counsellor and running a suicide bereavement support group online with his wife, Jennie Baird.
Armero and Baird, who live in Sharon, Connecticut, now spend their retirement making chocolate under the name Mudgetown Chocolate in Tri-Corner F.E.E.D.’s kitchen on South Center Street and volunteering with community organizations across New York and Connecticut.
Armero is also registered as a death doula, a term that refers to people who guide terminal patients and older people through the final stages of life just before death. Armero considers death to be one of his passions, after more than a decade of studying grief and counselling people through bereavement.
Armero hopes the Death Cafe can promote an appreciation for death, or at least more comfort with it.
“The more aware you are of death, the less it scares you and the better you can deal with it,” Armero said. “Your own and the death of your loved ones.”
Jennifer Almquist
The parking lot of The Little Red Barn Brewers in Winsted was full on Wednesday, April 8, as more than 100 people from 43 Connecticut towns — including New Haven and Vernon — arrived carrying personal treasures for a live taping of “Audacious LIVE Show & Tell.”
Chion Wolf, host and producer of Connecticut Public’s “Audacious,” and her crew, led by production manager Maegn Boone, brought the program to the packed brewery for an evening of story-driven conversation and shared keepsakes.
Reflecting on the evening’s spirit, Wolf, a four-time Gracie Award winner from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation, said: “To me, Audacious — and Connecticut Public — are about making space for people to be fully themselves: curious, vulnerable, weird, honest, all of it. ‘Show & Tell’ feels like that spirit brought to life.”
Attendees clutched mementos — sentimental, unusual and sometimes humorous — hoping for a chance to step onto the small stage and share their stories.
Caroline Christensen of Winsted carried a large conch shell and told the audience about nearly losing her fiancé to a storm tide while he struggled to retrieve the shell she wanted.
Gerry Griswold, a wildlife rehabilitator and educator from White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield, brought a Victorian taxidermied pet dog in a glass case.
When Tim Dwyer of Coventry showed a vintage T-shirt featuring “Bill the Cat,” Wolf rolled up her pants leg to reveal a matching cartoon tattoo.
Author Christine Ieronimo drove from Plymouth with a photograph of her late grandmother, Florence De Mario, holding her beauty contest trophy as a young woman, along with the original silver cup engraved with “Interstate Rhode Island and Connecticut Beauty Contest, September 28, 1929.”
The evening blended humor, nostalgia and vulnerability, with food and drinks provided by Nils Johnson, co-founder of the brewery, which has become a lively gathering place in
Winsted.
Jessica Severin de Martinez, Robyn Doyon-Aitken, Meg Fitzgerald and Vanessa de la Torre were also part of the Connecticut Public team that helped produce the event. Connecticut Public is home to Connecticut Public Radio and Connecticut Public Television.
Lucy Nalpathanchil, vice president for community engagement, said the organization hosts “Audacious LIVE Show & Tell” events around the state to connect with residents and reach new audiences.
“We’ve hosted them so far in Winsted, Willimantic, Hartford and Stamford,” Nalpathanchil said.
“If your readers have thoughts about where the next one should be held, they can email ideas to events@ctpublic.org,” she said.
Wolf summed up the night simply: “We held the space, sure, but those who attended made the magic. People walked in as strangers carrying meaningful objects from their lives, and by the end of the night, the room felt warm, open and deeply connected. That’s public radio at its best.”
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