Woodlawn Farmstead

About the Farm

In the spectacular Mettawee Valley of southwestern Vermont, Woodlawn Farmstead stands as a testament to agricultural perseverance and family legacy. Seven generations of the Leach family have been raising cows for milk in the town of Pawlet since 1831, operating their dairy farm through nearly two centuries of changing times and market fluctuations. Today, Seth Leach, the seventh-generation farmer, and his wife Kate continue this remarkable lineage from the same home built by Seth's family in the 1790s, maintaining a herd of 120 Registered Holsteins while honoring both the agricultural history and future of Vermont.

Faced with the modern challenge of commodity dairy economics where small farms struggle against the prices set by giant dairy buyers, Seth and Kate made the bold decision to diversify and innovate. Since taking over active management in 2015, Seth has transformed Woodlawn into a multifaceted operation that includes a Wagyu beef herd, artisan cheese production through Woodlawn Creamery, and partnerships with renowned Vermont cheesemakers. The farm achieved total feed self-sufficiency, eliminating the need for purchased grain and reducing their carbon footprint while investing in the sustainability and productivity of their working lands.

Woodlawn's success rests on four foundational pillars: maximizing the health and productivity of their Mettawee Valley lands, producing the highest quality milk for artisan cheese partners, crafting their own beautiful hand-made Vermont artisan cheeses including Pawlet, Rupert, and Southwind varieties, and raising the finest Vermont Wagyu beef. This vertical integration approach allows them to manage every step from growing crops to making cheese, embodying their belief that the future of small-scale Vermont farming depends on responsible stewardship, local resource utilization, and strategic diversification into value-added products.