Joseph Allard established Allard’s Farm in 1935. The farm milked 120 Holsteins in a brand new and state of the art 226 foot x 36-foot gambrel stanchion barn that is still in use today, but it has been converted to a free stall facility. Joseph’s Grandson, Wayne Goulet returned to the farm after receiving his Master’s Degree in Economics from The American University in Washington, DC. After Joe Allards death, Wayne assumed full operational control and ownership, and has been running the farm for over 45 years.
Wayne has significantly improved the farm’s land holdings, diversified its trucking operation and improved the barns, equipment, animals and facilities. In 1976 Wayne helped in the design and construction of a free stall barn system that housed 190 animals in three barns connected to a central feed system, and at the same time the farm began milking in the brand new double 10 parlor. At the farms peak in the late 90’s and up through 2003 Wayne was milking 340 Holsteins and had over 600 animals of various ages. It was at that time that Wayne made an economic decision to sell the majority of the Holstein herd, and he began to design and implement a more efficient and cost effective management system.
With the help of his herdsman, Robert Gould, the two men began to assemble a registered herd of Brown Swiss. The Brown Swiss was the breed Wayne had done some research on for its hardiness and strong calving and milking abilities. The two men began to assemble a herd of high quality cow families mixed with excellent bred heifers from some of the finest established herds such as Shelburne Farms in Burlington VT, Ken Main and Peter Vail’s Elite Dairy in Copake NY, the Demay’s Farm in NY to help in establishing a superior genetic makeup of the herd. It was systematic, deliberate and calculated to ensure the success of the farm for years to come. Wayne formed Maple Street Swiss, and the herd has been consistently setting milk records and sweeping the show rings in New England for the past few years culminating in the winning of the Grand Champion award at the 2008 Eastern State Exposition. It was the first time a Massachusetts farm had won the Grand Champion of the Brown Swiss Show in 26 years.
This year they have started leasing high quality heifers to 4-H youth. In addition to Wayne’s commitment to the dairy animals, he has been recognized for his dedication to land preservation and environmental concerns. In 2008 the USDA chose to award Wayne an environmental grant to close his manure pit, and he is in the process of putting the finishing touches on a state of the art slurry storage system. The Trust for Public Land recognized and awarded Wayne for his support, sale and preservation of land in 2008 for the Silvio O. Conte National Fish & Wildlife Refuge. The Dairy Farm has been consistently recognized for its quality of milk, highest herd average and for its sanitation practices. In 2008 the farm was once again recognized and received the Dairylea Gold Certificate Award.