From Farm to Film: How One Farmer’s Work on the Farm Fuels His Art

Vermont farmer creates two feature-length films inspired by farm life.

George Woodard at his farm in Waterbury, Vermont, next to a piece of military equipment he purchased for his film, “The Farm Boy.” Photo by Laura Hardie.

For Waterbury, Vermont farmer George Woodard, life on the farm isn’t just a way of life. It’s what inspires him to entertain people through music and theatre.

“In high school, my senior year, I discovered theatre and acting. Community theatre is the best thing in the world, second only to milk,” Woodard said as his fans chuckled.

An accomplished actor, director, and a bit of a local celebrity, Woodard travels around the state to show his films and talk about his life on the farm, family history, and filmmaking process.

While showing a slideshow to a crowd in Montpelier in early 2023, 70-year-old Woodard inserted bits of humor on a black screen with white text that read, ‘but always home to milk the cows’ and ‘but always drink whole milk’ in between playing portions of his new two-hour movie, “The Farm Boy,” which debuted in the spring of 2023.

Woodard began making “The Farm Boy” in 2016. Set in December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge, he says it took over six years to complete between doing farm chores and searching for snow while filming in Vermont.

“Those friggin’ German winters. That was a problem because the snow would…