by Angie Wotton
Special to the Houlton Pioner Times
SMYRNA — There is a house on a hill surrounded by garden beds and flowers and pastures that beef cows get fat on with views of mountains off in the distance. The Smyrna Mills farmhouse has been extended over the years to accommodate various generations of family members, now housing (most of the time) three generations. Gene and Barb Lawlor have raised their own children and many foster children in this house, incorporating the farm in their upbringing so that no one goes out into the world without the knowledge and experience of hard work and life cycles and putting food by and everything else that goes with living on a farm.
I sat with Gene, Barb, their son Micah, and their two grandchildren Adan and Olivia one misty afternoon to talk about their life and work together. Micah moved home a few years ago and now works closely with Gene each day. Answers to my questions were interspersed with such friendly ribbing as when I asked what the best part of having Micah around was, Micah immediately answered, “My positive attitude,” to which Gene responded, “I’m thinking that’s not it.”
Contributed photo
FAMILY — Three generations of the Lawlor family, from left, Gene, grandchildren Olivia and Adan, and son Micah work, and play, together to make their beef farm in Smyrna Mills an ongoing success. Gene and his wife Barb have raised their own children and many foster children over the years.
Bantering aside, it has helped to share the workload on the farm, even if having another person means they have also taken on more. Currently, the Lawlors raise 120 cow/calf pairs using rotational grazing — moving the cattle onto new pasture every 2-3 days and bale grazing in the winter, a feeding system that uses intensive grazing techniques to winter-feed round bales in the field.
Gene also spends a lot of time helping with the Maine beef industry by fielding many phone calls from people interested in starting a herd, and with marketing and financial questions. His wife Barb jokes that he is known as the old man on the hill with the farm knowledge that he shares and takes the time to pass on to others.
Both Gene and Barb stressed to me that theirs is a family operation with everyone participating in some way. Micah’s son Adan, who is 12 (but will say in the same breath that he will be 13 in August) loves to be outside and dreams of being a veterinarian. He happily follows his Dad around, picking rocks, moving cows, fencing, and when they get the chance, fishing. His 2013 summer big deal is finally getting behind the wheel in the truck and driving the field roads. Even 5-year-old Olivia helps out by picking potato bugs, harvesting produce from the garden, and riding with her Grampie on the 4-wheeler to check fencing.
Making a living from the farm is a challenge and Gene admits that some days when the blackflies are crawling up his sleeves during fencing or when he and Micah are up every two hours at night during calving season, he sometimes thinks maybe he’s had enough. But that is a passing thought and instead he thinks of the community they are a part of on their rural road, the neighbors who help move cows across their lawns to new pasture or trading eggs for maple syrup or firewood for beef.
Most of all, Gene and Barb know that their farm will one day transfer to Micah who will continue the farm and instill the community and rural values to his children and grandchildren. To realize a dream like that is one that no stubborn burdock or moose taking down a fence can take away.
Angie Wotton loves her work as district manager for the Southern Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District. She also raises pastured pork and vegetables with her husband on their small West Berry Farm in Hammond. She can be reached 532-9407 or via e-mail at angela.wotton@me.nacdnet.net.
