FARMINGTON — Teresa and Henry Hardy and their children, who run an organic dairy farm in Farmington, traveled thousands of miles this past weekend to be honored as the top organic farming educators out of more than 600 farms nationwide.

Their whirlwind three-day trip included getting on stage Saturday night alongside country singer Willie Nelson and other famous performers at Farm Aid, an annual concert that promotes agriculture issues.

But the Hardy family didn’t take time to rest Sunday after getting home from Kansas City, Mo.

Despite taking a delayed, redeye flight home that landed in Portland about noon, the family had heifers to bring in from pasture and a state fair competition looming.

“We went right back to work to get ready for the Skowhegan State Fair,” Teresa Hardy said Monday, while at the fair.

One of the couple’s daughters was showing their best Ayrshire cows in a 4-H agriculture competition, trying to highlight the family’s organic livestock from their 175-acre farm, she said.

Whether competing at fairs, hosting public visits to their farm or teaching children about agriculture at schools, the husband, wife and their children are all active in promoting organic farming.

This devotion to education and outreach is why the Hardy family was named this year’s Horizon Organic Producer Education Award winner, according to Ron Schnur, a vice president for the company that gives out the award.

The annual award picks one family from the 625 farms that partner with Horizon Organic, an organic dairy distribution company based in Broomfield, Colo., Schnur said Monday.

The Hardys are the first Mainers to win the award, which is in its sixth year. There are 22 organic dairy farms in Maine that partner with the company, which gave out another award to a New York farm over the weekend, Schnur said.

Teresa Hardy, 44, took a moment Monday, in between dairy shows of course, to reflect on the family trip, which was paid for by the company as part of the award that included a $500 prize.

The couple’s two daughters, Marjorie, 20, and Ashlie, 17, and son Andrew, 22, along with his wife, Ashley, 22, came along for the trip. They all work on the farm with its more than 53 cows and organic hay operation in the hills of western Maine.

“The whole family got to go, and we got up on stage and they recognized us as the award winners,” Teresa Hardy said.

She described it as amazing and overwhelming to be in front of more than 45,000 people, while standing alongside performers such as Nelson, Dave Matthews and Neil Young. The family even presented a $100,000 check from Horizon Organic to Farm Aid, which raises money for agriculture issues.

“To me the best part was that we got to present this award in front of so many people and other farmers,” she said.

Her family started getting involved in community outreach and education after making the change to organic farming in 2003.

The farm had been in the family since the 1940s and it changed to organic because of concerns about unstable trends in regular dairy prices, according to Henry Hardy, 46.

Regular milk prices fluctuated because of a number of reasons, but organic milk had guaranteed prices due to certain demand and other factors, he said.

Before the change to organic, the family had to make tough decisions on which bills they could afford.

“We were trying to figure out which bills to pay first. It was a financial place I didn’t want to be in again,” he said.

The couple feared they would have to direct their children into a different career, even though they had been working the farm and wanted to take over eventually.

“I definitely would have steered them in a different direction,” said the father, Henry Hardy.

The two older Hardy children have gotten some form of higher education tied to agriculture, and Ashlie plans to do the same so she can help with the family business, he said.

Meanwhile, the Henry and Teresa are active in agriculture committees and boards in New England.

The couple often represents organic dairy farming in Maine and has helped other farmers make the change to organic, according to Horizon Organic Vice President Schnur.

Henry Hardy said farmers from other states ask him about Maine’s organic industry. He tells them it may not be leading the way but it is among states driving the discussion about how family farms can succeed, which is tied to stable organic food markets.

When helping other farmers make the change to organic, he explains to them how more people are shifting to buy organic products. People want food produced without chemicals, hormones and other products that organic certification prohibits, he said.

The shift to organic products may put an end to the volatile dairy prices that threaten the industry in recent years, he said, recalling tips he shared with other farmers.

“It’s given them a little more positive outlook about the future of farming,” he said.

David Robinson — 861-9287

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