Long Green Farms

When Alice Crothers talks about the future of Long Green Farms, she rarely begins with the 160 milking cows on farm. Instead, she talks about financial decisions and technological advancements. Each of these is made with the same question in mind: Will this leave the farm better for the next generation? 

For Alice and her husband, Caleb, who returned to his family's eighth-generation dairy farm in Rising Sun, Maryland, in 2015, that question has shaped more than a decade of transformation. What began as a return home became an opportunity to reimagine how a modern dairy farm could thrive, not just for today, but for decades to come. 

Stewardship with Intention 

Since returning to the 580-acre farm, the Crothers family has invested in nearly every aspect of the operation. 

They've installed a methane digester that produces renewable electricity, expanded cover cropping, improved manure management, recycled more than 90% of the sand used for cow bedding and added conservation projects that protect water flowing to the Chesapeake Bay.

A Modern Dairy Runs on Data and Purpose 

Alice didn't grow up on a dairy farm. Her background is in healthcare administration, where she developed expertise in business strategy and operations before she and Caleb made the decision to move their young family more than 600 miles to Maryland following his father's cancer diagnosis. That experience shaped how she views dairy farming today. 

Modern dairies, she says, are fueled by science, technology and analytics. Activity monitors help identify changes in cow health before they become larger issues. Equipment performance can be monitored from a smartphone. Data helps prioritize daily decisions, while allowing farmers to use resources more efficiently. 

Yet Alice is quick to point out that technology doesn't replace farmers. It strengthens them. 

"Technology doesn't replace a human," she says. "It enhances our decision making." 

Building a Farm Worth Choosing 

While the farm has been operational by the Crothers family since 1759, for Alice, the future isn't measured by how long the farm has existed. It's measured by whether the next generation wants to continue it. 

She and Caleb are already planning projects, including robotic milking technology, they hope will improve quality of life and make it easier for their three daughters to someday choose agriculture if they wish. 

As Alice says, "I hope to see the next generation choose this life, not out of guilt, but for the lifestyle that it can provide." 

It's a philosophy that extends beyond family. 

Alice believes dairy farming succeeds when farms are financially sound, environmentally responsible and positioned to adapt. That requires balancing innovation with affordability, conservation with profitability and tradition with strategic thinking.  

"You can't run a business on feelings, emotion or tradition," she says. "Each decision has to be strategic, analytical and a sound business decision." 

More Than an Inheritance 

As the mother of three young daughters, Alice hopes each will discover her own place within the family business. 

“One loves business analytics, another is happiest outdoors, and the youngest has a natural connection with the animals,” says Alice.

Long Green Farms is one of six farms featured in Portraits of Modern Dairy, bringing the people, perspectives and daily realities behind today's dairy farms into public view.