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Jim Williamson
Summary Jim Williamson is 75 years old and has lived in Bennington for 65 years of his life. His parents purchased the State Line Farm and he inherited it when his father passed away. The family sold fresh milk, eggs, maple syrup, and honey. After Jim took over the farm he eventually got married, and had 3 daughters and 1 son. He sold milk, maple syrup (his “moneymaker”), honey, sorghum, and eggs. Jim sold milk for 60 years. He used to sell 10 gallons of milk a week, to steady customers and neighbors. Jim stopped selling milk and eggs in June 2004. He has always sold his syrup on the honor system out of his farm and has not been “ripped off” yet, that he knows of. He has sold his syrup once to South America, and once to Africa, but he said the freight cost double the syrup so he would never do that again. He worked on the Soil Conservation Board for 36 years where he controlled land claims but he got sick of it eventually. Jim’s son John also keeps beehives on the property from which they produce and sell honey. Jim sells calves and gets good money for them because in Vermont most cows are usually only bought from Canada. He also sells bales of hay mainly to horse owners. Today Jim’s main project is working to produce a diesel from Canola that he and John have been growing on the farm. The only setback is a $10,000 press that they need to purchase, but once they get the press, they will be able to produce the diesel for all of their own machinery, and sell it as well.
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