Cottrell Success Story

As drivers travel the very busy Route 138, the main thoroughfare that takes drivers east and west across Rhode Island, they come upon the pastoral Cottrell Family Homestead.  The Cottrells manage approximately 206 acres of land, and raise 100 head of dairy cows.  In 2003 they were approved for the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP).  With the funding they received  they were able to install an agricultural waste management system and will soon implement other major conservation practices.  As part of their whole farm plan they have installed an access road, fencing, grassed waterway, heavy use area protection pad, manure transfer system, pipeline, pond, roof runoff structure, watering facility and a waste storage facility.  Nutrient management is practiced by the Cottrell's.  With their whole farm plan the Cottrell's are able to improve the quality and management of their farm, while also improving the water quality of the nearby Chickasheen Brook. 

             In addition to the EQIP funding, this large scale project was financially assisted by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM). The Cottrell's are also working with the RIDEM Division of Agriculture in monitoring before and after water quality values, to determine the effect of the new agricultural waste management system.  The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provided all the technical assistance needed to implement the project. 

             The Cottrell's are also part of a new cooperative with four other Rhode Island dairy farms to package and sell their milk under a Rhode Island label.  “Rhody Fresh” will help the Rhode Island Dairy Cooperative increase profit margins and stave off pressure to sell their farms to developers. The Cottrell’s milk is among the 9,000 half gallon cartons of “Rhody Fresh” milk being distributed to the local stores and major supermarkets each week.  “We’re hopeful that Rhode Islanders will buy a local, fresh product that in turn will preserve some of the most valuable open space in our state,” said Jim Hines, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Dairy Farms Cooperative.  The milk will soon be available in gallons.   NRCS is proved to have helped the Cottrell's improve their farm at this very critical time in their farming operations.