Photo: Alexandra Genova for the New York Times.
Last year, Churchtown Dairy in Claverack, N.Y., drew hundreds of carolers. (Notice the loft above.)
Other than blogger Deb at A Bear’s Thimble, most of us have lost the daily connection with farm animals that our ancestors knew. When we take our kids to a farm, it seems exotic. No wonder people jump at the chance described in today’s story.
Arielle Gordon reported at the New York Times, “About 200 carolers had just begun the second verse of the classic Christmas song ‘The Friendly Beasts’ when a little girl let out a squeal of delight. About 20 feet below the balcony, on the floor of the large domed barn, two of the half-dozen dairy cows were butting heads. As the grazing heifers lifted their horns, their playful roughhousing seemed like a display of holiday cheer.
“[The] Churchtown Dairy in Claverack, N.Y., once again hosted a Yuletide tradition: caroling to the herd of 28 cattle that call the cathedral-like barn their winter home. What began a decade ago as a way for the farm’s staff and their families to celebrate the herd has since grown to an annual tradition that brings locals and out-of-towners to the farm’s 250-acre property each December.
“[Preregistration] for the two caroling events filled up within hours of going online. Farm staff fielded phone calls from frustrated would-be carolers, some of whom blamed an Instagram post advertising the event for its rise in popularity.
“ ‘We’re considering adding a third night next year to accommodate all the interest,’ said Grace Pullin, Churchtown’s director of partnerships and programs. …
“Attendee, Sharon Mclees, 64, has attended for six years. Growing up around cows, Ms. Mclees said she felt comforted by the tranquillity at Churchtown. ‘I love the farm atmosphere,’ she said. ‘It’s just so back to nature.’
“Churchtown Dairy was founded in 2012 by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, the granddaughter of the business magnate John D. Rockefeller, but the property has been under her family’s purview for decades. Her mother, Peggy Rockefeller, purchased the land as part of a larger acquisition of over 2,700 acres by the American Farmland Trust, an agricultural nonprofit Peggy started in 1980.
“The younger Ms. Rockefeller partnered with the architect Rick Anderson to design the farm, traveling the country visiting barns for inspiration. For her, the dome is a sign of a healthy, biodynamic farm. … Mr. Anderson explained that its shape served a more practical purpose: ‘Cows hate corners.’
“The dairy is not unique in its caroling tradition; just a few miles up the Taconic State Parkway, Hawthorne Valley Farms has been singing to its herd in a smaller event on Christmas Eve for the past 40 years. Staff members at Churchtown each had a different theory on the origins of the practice. Ms. Pullin suggested it might have been inspired by the work of the German esoteric philosopher and biodynamic farming pioneer Rudolph Steiner, who claimed that cow horns had ‘astral-ethereal formative powers.’
“Eric Vinson, a herd manager on the farm, referenced the old European myth that animals are able to communicate with humans at Christmastime. In more contemporary contexts, scientists at the University of Leicester found that cows produced more milk when played songs with less than 100 beats per minute. (R.E.M.’s ‘Everybody Hurts’ seemed to go over especially well.) By that logic, carols, with their measured pace, could be conducive to a happy herd. …
“Carolers, armed with illustrated songbooks, began with Christmas classics — ‘The First Noel,’ ‘Silent Night,’ ‘Joy to the World,’ — before Ms. Pullin opened the floor to requests. There were shouts of ‘Free Bird,’ but the crowd eventually settled on ‘Feliz Navidad’ as the final number of the night.
“The cows wagged their tails in appreciation — or maybe they were swatting away loose hay — and for a moment, the myth seemed to come alive: Animals and humans communicating for the holiday.”
The farm sells raw, unpasteurized milk. My mother sometimes bought raw milk at a farm near brother Will’s nursery school in Rockland County, New York. That was definitely a Rudolf Steiner farm. The nursery school followed his ideas, too.
You can read about the quality control drill that keeps raw milk safe at Churchtown Dairy, here. And do let me know if you have ever sung carols to cows! I want to try it.
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