Steve A. Couture
Dairy Farm Manager

A native of Vermont, Steve has worked on farms all over the North Country. He began his agriculture career studying at the University of Kentucky. He worked summers on a 3,500 acre farm that produced tobacco, seed corn, soybeans, and small grains, in addition to caring for a flock of 3,000 sheep. In 1981, he ventured out to Wisconsin to become a herdsman on a 200-cow dairy farm where he spent five years gaining experience. In 1986, he moved his family to New York to work as a herdsman for Charlie Ashley, a largely registered Holstein herd in West Chazy. In 1989, he and his wife purchased a herd of cows and rented a farm for two years. He then went to work for Dutch Rovers as a herdsman, a farm with 600 cows and 3,000 acres. In 2001, he joined Adirondack Farms in Peru, NY as a herdsman, a farm with 1,450 cows and 3,000 acres. These farms, some of the most progressive in the Northeast, provided Steve with experience and knowledge in all aspects of dairy farming, herd management, crops, business, and labor. Steve's responsibilities at Miner Institute include supervising students, working with the research team, benchmarking Miner Institute dairy performance indicators, and expanding overall herd performance.