Turner Farms

Egremont, MA

600 acres

120 milking cows

Back to the country

Darrell Turner was 30 and living the city life and doing very well in his career as a mechanical engineer when he and his wife, an architect, looked at each other one day and decided to take a break. The couple visited 13 national parks over two months and then came back to Egremont to stay with Darrell’s parents while they figured out their next steps. That next step, it turned out, was to stay right there to work with his dad, Bill, and uncle, Paul. It’s worked out well, everyone agrees. “We find our own corners,” Bill says. “It’s pretty nice having him back here.”

Maple Syrup

Specialty Foods

The simple life

“We came back looking for kind of a simple life. We’d done the city life. We wanted to get back to the country,” Darrell says. Along with helping on the dairy farm, Darrell has launched his own company on the farm, Turner Hill Malting Co., producing malted barley, a key ingredient much in demand by regional craft brewers. His engineering background has helped there and also with the dairy operation, which recently added a state-of-the-art robotic milking system. “I’ve always been a really hands-on person. I enjoy physical labor. I like tinkering with stuff,” says Darrell.

Follow this Farm

I enjoy physical labor. I like tinkering with stuff. I get to do all of that on the farm.

- Darrell Turner

Keeping the connection

Darrell is the fourth generation on the family farm “People are always surprised to see that I’ve come back,” he says. “It’s nice to be able to be part of the tradition of the farm.” Darrell developed his new endeavor with the overall agricultural business viability in mind. “We all need to expand or diversify to keep going,” he says. “I feel good that this is still connected to food and agriculture.”

To see what’s up with Darrell Turner’s malting operation, check out turnerhillmalt.com/

Share This Farm Family's Story

Get to know the other 800 Cabot Farm Families

Barstow's Longview Farm

Hadley, MA