While speaking with Tyler, he reminisced on when he was at the young age of 10 or 12 years old when he was visiting a farm with his father near his childhood home in Connecticut.

Tyler has the memory of thinking to himself, “How cool would it be to own land?”

“I became involved in Vermont Agriculture when I planted the first apple tree on our farm,” Tyler said. “I got a wave from my neighbor driving driving his tractor down the road.”

Today, Tyler and his wife own and operate their own orchard, Dog Nose Farm, in Derby, Vermont, which was established in 2022. They offer nine varieties of fresh apples, four varieties of blueberries and three varieties of pears.

“With it being a new farm, every year since then has been filled with learning and building,” Tyler said. “From controlling weeds, maintaining our trees and bushes, to erecting deer fencing and even building our forever home, the journey has been filled with hard work and fulfillment.”

Within the past few years, they have had to adapt to various challenges familiar to many farmers. From late frosts, to excessive rain, record breaking drought and wet bloom periods, they have been faced with many trials.

While they started their farm in 2022, Tyler has been farming since 2012 and holds an associates degree in agricultural management. He began as a farm hand at a local vegetable farm in southern New Hampshire to becoming a production manager at a pasture raised poultry operation, raising 20,000 meat birds annually.

Around the same time, Tyler began his first agricultural business, Precision Cut Pruning. Tyler continues seasonal pruning on 30 acres of commercial fruit trees in southern New Hampshire.

Looking ahead to spring, the Brodie family is excited to utilize new equipment to make their operation more successful. One of the new pieces of equipment is a 46 inch lawn tractor with a Kawasaki engine which will be used to help manage the grass at their orchard.

The orchard also installed a new weather station which will play a vital role in “making sound management decisions for spraying, specifically when and how much to spray.”

The weather station gathers data which helps eliminate guess work, overall making management decisions more efficient.

“Farming has taught me how to be measured as we live out lives,” Tyler said when asked what farming has taught him. “It’s important to be measured and knowing how to approach a situation with confidence.”

When asked why he values Vermont Farm Bureau, Tyler replied, “It is a group of like-minded individuals who are working toward the same goal of advancing Vermont agriculture. We are neighbors, friends and competitors all working at our own craft.”

If you would like to follow along with Dog Nose Farm’s journey or learn more about the Brodie family, you can find them on Facebook at Dog Nose Farm, Instagram at DogNose_Farm or their website, precisionscutpruning.com.