BRISTOL, Vt. — Here at Four Hill Farms in central Vermont, surrounded by Green Mountain National Forest, a family passion for quality shows — from the land and the soil to the cows and the milk, and from the parlor to the showring across three generations.
What began in 1973, when Robert and Jeanette Hill re-established their dairy after a devastating barn fire in Williston, has grown into one of New England’s largest and most progressive dairies — today milking 2,600 cows at two facilities, averaging 98 pounds of milk per cow per day with a somatic cell count averaging 130,000.
After moving to Bristol with 50 Holsteins, Robert focused on buying registered cattle his children could show. Over the decades, the herd expanded steadily, adding modern facilities and growing to milk over 2,000 by 2017, when the family built its double-37 parallel parlor.
Today, the operation spans more than 5,700 acres and remains guided by the four ‘Hills’ — second-generation siblings Ron, Brian, Joanne, and Kevin. They each manage different parts of the business. Ron oversees the dairy division and facilities, Joanne manages the calves, Brian heads the cropping, and Kevin handles machinery and takes a special interest in the show cattle.
Third-generation cousins manage the herd
Cousins Megan Hill and Britney Cyr represent the third generation. Together, they manage the large herd, about 95% Holstein, and the show herd with a legacy respected in national shows across four breeds — Ayrshire, Holstein, Jersey, and Red & White.
“We’ve been using Udder Comfort for as long as I can remember,” says Megan, who focuses on the genetics and repro, during an interview at the 2025 World Dairy Expo.
“We started with the lotion at least 20 years ago, and now use the Udder Comfort Backpack Sprayer. It works really nice,” she explains. “Every time the fresh cows come into the parlor, we go down through and spray them. We also do the mastitis group the same way.”
A 15-gallon drum of Udder Comfort spray sits beside the parlor, where the team can easily refill the 4-gallon battery-operated backpack sprayer.
“We can do all the cows in our fresh groups without slowing parlor throughput,” Britney explains in a phone interview recently. “The Backpack is convenient, efficient, easy to maneuver, and the battery charge lasts. Our fresh cows are more comfortable, and fresh heifers adjust to milking much faster with better letdown. Doing our fresh groups year-round helps with keeping our SCC low.”
At this year’s Expo, Megan also picked up the new Udder Comfort Parlor Buddy, a one-gallon battery-operated handheld sprayer that works with a 50/50 mix of the blue and yellow sprays.
The Buddy and the Backpack both use a custom nozzle that applies a uniform coating to the key areas with one smooth pass under the udder.
Generations of breeding and care
While Holsteins make up most of the main herd, the Jerseys, Ayrshires, and Red & Whites have also become a defining part of Four Hills’ identity.
Megan shared this year they brought a diverse group of cattle — from every breed — to World Dairy Expo (2025). In the Junior Red & White Show, their aged cow was honorable mention grand in Junior Red & White Show, three Jersey cows were back out in competition for senior and intermediate champion of the junior shows, and a Shorthorn was pulled out for intermediate of the junior show.
A Jersey Youth Academy Class IV alum, Megan told Jersey Journal in a 2022 interview that her interest in Jerseys began when she started showing a heifer named Reese’s Pieces, who lived to 14 years and founded several family lines.
But it was the first Jersey she showed on the colored shavings at Madison that had the biggest influence. That would be Kellogg-Bay Amedeo Gladys-ET, a foundation cow at Four Hills, whose descendants have continued to excel.
Among them are Four-Hills Velocity Gloriana EX94, a granddaughter of Gladys. She was grand champion of the 2019 World Dairy Expo Junior Jersey Show, fulfilling Megan’s dream of walking in the supreme pageant, something her older cousin Britney did eight years earlier.
At the All-American in Louisville that year (2019), Gloriana was overall premier performance cow. Megan’s Gladys daughter Galaxy was best bred and owned — both contributing to Megan earning Premier Breeder of the All-American in the last year of her junior show career.
“To be rewarded with winning best bred and owned with Galaxy, the cow I had put so much effort into, was a dream come true,” Megan told the Jersey Journal. “Winning premier performance cow (with Gloriana) was also a huge honor because it combines both phenotypic and genotypic traits — what everyone strives to breed. When the announcement came that I had won Premier Breeder, I didn’t think I heard it right at first. The entire walk from the barn to Freedom Hall, I was trying to hold back tears realizing the award was the result of descendants from Gladys.”
As genetics manager at Four Hills, Megan has her sights on making Four Hills a breeder herd. She makes the mating decisions, focusing “on breeding a cow that works hard but also looks good doing it.” Her approach — combining function, style, and consistency — embodies the Four Hills philosophy across all breeds from function in the commercial herd to style in show string.
A 2021 Cowsmopolitan article chronicled some of their successes, including achieving earlier-on the long-held goal of breeding a World Dairy Expo winner in each of the four breeds that they exhibit (Ayrshire, Holstein, Jersey, and Red & White). This feat was first realized in 2013 and has carried forward.
In 2022, Megan’s sister Sarah exhibited Four-Hills Lola Guns N Roses at World Dairy Expo. The junior-3 earned intermediate and reserve grand champion of the Junior Jersey Show that year.
Looking back a decade earlier. It was a Red & White and two homebred Ayrshires that did it for Britney. She walked the supreme pageant in 2011 with Ainger Advent Jessa EX-94, grand champion of the 2011 World Dairy Expo Junior Red & White Show, as well as type and production with 3-6 305-d record of 35,450M 1623F 1037P. Britney’s sister Elizabeth had the intermediate champion of the Junior Red & White Show that year with a homebred fall yearling in milk.
Jessa was nominated both open and junior All-American in multiple years, and her daughters have done very well, with many descendants among the herd favorites.
The next two years, Britney bred and owned the grand champion of the World Dairy Expo Junior Ayrshire Show with Four-Hills Trident Snoopy in 2012, and then with her daughter Four-Hills Abush Sammy EX-94 in 2013.
We asked Britney’s father Brian back then about the herd. He talked about the influence in their then 1500-cow Holstein herd of homebred 2005 All-American Milking Yearling Four-Hills Luci Cassi and her sire Lylehaven Lucifer. Cassi was the first World Dairy Expo milking class winner for the Hills 20 years ago, and they milk and show descendants of her today.
Brian also mentioned the importance of Udder Comfort to bring quality back to the udder at shows and in the large herd at home, especially for fresh 2-year-olds — a practice they haven’t deviated from.
Across those 20 years of excellence at top national shows and state fairs, the Hills have bred and developed cows that reflect the farm’s dual focus on production and type.
Megan confirms that Udder Comfort continues to be part of their routine both at home and at shows to help those cows reach their potential.
“We use the white lotion whenever cows in the show string calve or if we notice anything a little off,” she says. “At shows, they get the lotion daily and definitely before and after bagging, quite extensively. It keeps udders soft, healthy, and looking their best.”
Innovation, stewardship, and the next generation
Four Hills Farm is equally progressive in its sustainability and business planning. Since 2012, the dairy has produced about twice the electricity it needs through Green Mountain Power’s Cow Power program, which converts methane from the digester into renewable energy. The Hills also use no-till cropping, cover crops, and soil-stabilizing practices across much of their acreage, earning conservation recognition and a strong reputation as community educators through Vermont’s Tour de Farms.
This forward-thinking approach extends to the third generation, where each cousin has carved out a management role: Megan (genetics) and Britney (herd health) are the main dairy herd managers with their respective brothers Johnny and Bradley focusing on crops and mechanics. Their respective sisters Sarah and Elizabeth contribute on the show and office sides, respectively.
Together, this third generation forms a well-rounded team driving the 5,700-acre, 2,600-cow operation into the future — each bringing unique skills and a shared family passion for the cows and the land.
Building on a legacy
Four Hills continues to balance innovation, technology and hands-on cow care in both commercial efficiency and elite genetics, demonstrating that comfort, quality, family teamwork, and pursuit of excellence go hand-in-hand. Just one example is using Udder Comfort on both fresh cows and show cows to support udder quality, milk quality, and cows that come into lactation ready to perform at their best.
The farm ships milk to Agri-Mark, earning premiums for fat, protein, and quality — outcomes strengthened by attention to detail and consistent care.
Across breeds, generations, and goals, the Hill family stands as proof that a passion for quality truly shows — in the parlor, in the showring, and in every gallon of milk shipped from the ‘Hills’ of Vermont.
Profiles in comfort and quality 