Robert Jacquier, began farming right out of high school in 1948 with 18 milking cows. Today, he and his wife Dorothy preside over a farming dynasty in the dairy-rich northwestern corner of Connecticut. At Laurelbrook Farm, a partnership with their sons and grandsons, they milk 750 cows and farm 2,200 acres of crops. A life-long commitment and service to New England agriculture and a lifetime of involvement in agricultural organizations have been an important part of the Jacquiers’ lives.

A 50-plus-year member of the Connecticut Milk Producers Association, which became Yankee Milk and then Agri-Mark, Jacquier served on their board for 19 years and 11 years as the treasurer of Agri-Mark. In 1973, the family was named Connecticut’s Outstanding Dairy Family.

Laurelbrook Farm operates a methane digester to process manure and create electricity. In August of 1995, Jacquier and four other local farms founded the Canaan Valley Agricultural Manure Cooperative to market composted manure vegetable seed pots that decompose after planting.