Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[su do <speakingbeareturns@yahoo.com>]

I think that goat milk for personal use is very cost effective.


--- On Wed, 5/7/08, Tradingpost <tradingpost@lobo.net> wrote:

> From: Tradingpost <tradingpost@lobo.net>
> Subject: [Livingontheland] Alternative cows find their dairy niche
> To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Wednesday, May 7, 2008, 3:32 PM
> Alternative cows find their dairy niche
> Grass-loving dairy cow breeds offer resilience in dynamic
> milk economy
> http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/20080502/nf1
> 
> With the arrival of spring, organic dairy farms across
> America are anything but tranquil. While farmers prepare
> for the work that comes with better weather, they are also
> grappling with dynamic forces that could change the entire
> dairy industry forever.
> 
> Skyrocketing grain prices, combined with ever-increasing
> global demand for dairy products, mean that your average
> organic dairy farmer sits at an all-important crossroads.
> Can organic dairy farmers meet the demand for their product
> while producing milk in an economically and environmentally
> sustainable manner?
> 
> Although Holsteins and Jerseys have been the breeds of
> choice in American dairy barns for decades, some farmers
> are thriving by working with other breeds. By making less
> milk at lower cost, hardier breeds could be poised to
> occupy a larger role in America’s dairies, particularly
> on organic farms.
> Milking Shorthorns
> 
> People have kept Milking Shorthorn cattle in Richard
> Beal’s neck of the woods for centuries. Beal milks about
> 30 Shorthorns, a breed renowned for its resiliency and
> ability to thrive on a forage-based diet. Grazing his herd
> of cows on about 80 acres of land, Beal estimates that he
> feeds a newly freshened cow about 10 to 15 pounds of grain
> per day—a modest amount by modern dairy standards. With
> organic grains currently fetching more than $400 per ton or
> more, a cow like the ones in Richard Beal’s herd could end
> up being the cow of the future.
> 
> At one time, Beal’s herd consisted almost entirely of
> high-producing Holsteins, with a few Milking Shorthorns
> used in his children’s 4-H projects. “The Holsteins
> made a lot of milk but I didn’t keep much money,” says
> Beal. Eventually, he converted his herd to improve his
> herd’s economics.
> 
> Organic since 1997, Beal’s farm straddles the road in an
> archetypical New England landscape: rolling hills
> interspersed with brooks and dense woods. It’s no
> accident that Beal transitioned to organic with the first
> wave of dairy farmers switching over in the area at around
> the same time he switched to milking mostly Shorthorns.
> 
> Richard Beal and Kate Dabny at Beal’s farm with Milking
> Shorthorn heifers.
>       
> 
> “I think it’s a great cow for an organic producer,”
> says Beal, emphasizing that different strategies might work
> for different farmers. Although he sings the praises of his
> prized Shorthorns, he does still have a few Holsteins and
> Holstein-crosses left over from his old herd. “I’m
> probably feeding the dry Holsteins as much or more grain as
> the Shorthorns that just calved.”
> 
> With average milk production hovering around 50 pounds
> daily, Beal aims for keeping long-lived cows with very few
> health problems. In fact, that is one way Beal’s Milking
> Shorthorn’s achieve economic sustainability—by saving
> money with vet bills.
> 
> “The Shorthorns just seem to take care of themselves,”
> Beal says. ‘I haven’t had a vet in in about 12
> years.” The herd has virtually no foot problems, which
> can devastate dairy cows. He hasn’t had to trim hooves in
> three years.
> 
> Although Beal says that the main management difference in
> keeping Shorthorns versus Holsteins is just feeding less
> grain, they may also require a more long-term perspective.
> They often live longer than the average high-producing
> Holstein, but they also take a little longer to hit their
> peak production.
> 
> “A lot of the time, it takes until the third lactation to
> really get them rolling,” says Beal. Heifers at Beal’s
> farm also aren’t rushed into their first pregnancy. Many
> times, heifers don’t calve until they are 2-and-a-half
> years old, a few months later than the age at which many
> dairy farmers expect.
> 
> Whereas Milking Shorthorns might require a look to the long
> view of farming, they also offer some unusual marketing
> potential. Beal says he has a ready market for bull calves
> in the form of New England teamsters. The striking Milking
> Shorthorn colors—red, red and white, and roan—along
> with strength and an even disposition are in demand among
> people training oxen across the region. Matched bull calves
> don’t stay on his farm for long, says Beal.
> 
> Even a modest amount of grain can quickly add up to a large
> bill on any of today’s dairy farms. Mary-Howell and Klaas
> Martens operate Lakeview Organics in Penn Yan, New York,
> which supplies organic grain for farmers in the northeast.
> Mary-Howell says the cost of organic grain has gone up
> dramatically in the past year. “It has essentially
> doubled,” says Martens, adding that grain prices are
> unlikely to go down in the foreseeable future.
> 
> Martens accounts the dramatic rise in grain prices to
> increased demand, estimating that the number of organic
> animals has recently increased by 50 percent while organic
> grain acreage has only increased by 8 percent. In addition,
> demand for ethanol has subtly affected the price of organic
> grain, since many farmers who might have switched to
> organic grain production are staying conventional because
> of the current lucrative market for grains to make ethanol.
> 
> Martens does not see increased interest in lower-input
> cows. Instead she sees more farmers looking to produce
> alternative forages or to grow their own small grains. At
> the same time, she says, grain sales “are doing just
> fine.”
> Normande
> 
> Mark Fellows of Chase Hill Farm in tiny Warwick,
> Massachusetts, has been rotationally grazing for 25 years.
> After taking over his father’s dairy farm, Fellows found
> that the Jerseys and Holsteins he was working with didn’t
> fit his goals. He was striving for an organic, grass-fed
> herd. “The Jerseys and Holsteins didn’t really hold up
> well,” he says “They got a little thin.” Fellows
> started breeding his cows to Normande bulls to get his farm
> functioning the way he wanted.
> 
>             A move toward hardier, thriftier cows—cows
> that make milk from grass—may be one essential way in
> which dairy farmers adapt to the challenges of the modern
> marketplace.
> 
> A black and white cow originating in France, Normandes have
> been bred for centuries for their ability to graze and for
> producing milk that makes outstanding cheese. Because Chase
> Hill Farm makes cheese for a local market, Fellows felt this
> was the breed for him. In addition, he placed importance on
> the fact that if a farmer is breeding artificially, there
> are many Normande bulls to choose from, since they are a
> popular cow in many parts of the world.
> 
> Currently certified organic and a 100-percent grass-fed
> herd, Fellows milks seasonally. He breeds his cows to calve
> March through April. All the dairy cows milking together at
> the same time of the year means that Fellows makes his
> cheese when the cows are grazing. “It doesn’t get any
> better than that,” says Fellows, stressing that grass is
> the premium feed for dairy cattle. Seasonal milking also
> means that the farmer gets a respite from milking– in
> Fellow’s case he says “I get three to four months off
> every winter.”
> 
> Fellows’ cows give an average of 7,000-8,000 pounds of
> milk per lactation with absolutely no grain. He grazes for
> seven months of the year, makes hay for the winter and
> saves high quality second-cut hay for the spring, when the
> cycle come around again and his cows start making milk.
> “We can’t keep up with our market for grass-fed
> milk,” says Fellows. In fact he feels that dual purpose
> cows like Normandes will have to play a larger role in the
> dairy industry. Citing upswings in the price of grain and
> fuel, Fellows says “The dairy industry is going to have
> to change.”
> 
> Mark Fellows sees an opportunity in the dairy world. He
> says that he knows of several people that are milking
> relatively few cows – five or six or ten – dual-purpose
> cows like Normandes or Shorthorns and they are doing quite
> well selling milk directly to an eager market. Mark
> Fellows’ experience with grass and cows tells him that
> more cows like his Normandes will be grazing and making
> milk in years to come.
> 
> Jerome Chateau, the president and founder of Normande
> Genetics, a company that sells Normande semen in the United
> States, says that more farmers have been looking into
> Normandes lately. “There’s been a greater interest over
> the past few months,” says Chateau, noting that the higher
> cost of grain is only one of the factors driving this trend.
> 
> Methods like those in practice at Mark Fellows farm may
> spell out more than just economic sustainability for dairy
> farmers—they may help significantly decrease the amount
> of greenhouse gases produced in the dairy industry. Cows
> walking from paddock to paddock, grazing for their feed,
> are less dependent on inputs such as grain—which is often
> trucked in from distant locations. Alternative breeds of
> cows may fit in well in a low-input farming model and may
> also make an important contribution to the health of the
> planet.
> Dexter
> 
>       
> The Dexter breed evolved from the British Isles. This one
> lives on the John O’Mear farm in Maine.
> 
> Given that higher grain prices could very well be a fixed
> part of America’s agricultural future, it’s not just
> Milking Shorthorns and Normandes that are getting a second
> look across the dairy industry. A wide range of hardier
> alternatives to Jerseys and Holsteins exist. Some farmers
> work well with Ayrshires, a breed that rivals the milk
> production of a Holstein but often requires less grain. At
> the other end of the spectrum stands the tiny Dexter.
> According to the breed standard, Dexter cows range in size
> from 36 to 42 inches tall. They originated in southwestern
> Ireland, where they lived in a semi-feral state for
> centuries.
> 
> There’s not much history of Dexters being milked
> commercially in North America. In great Britain, however,
> Beryl Rutherford ran a Dexter dairy for decades. At one
> time, Rutherford milked 60 Dexters and shipped the milk
> commercially. Now in her 80s and retired, Rutherford says
> that Dexters can stand up against modern dairy breeds.
> “For their size they compare very well, and because of
> the consistency throughout the lactation it can surprise
> you. It also means a fair proportion of yield can be taken
> on maintenance rations. My best cow would do 800 gallons,
> but only gave a peak of three and a half gallons daily.
> When I was desperately trying to dry her off, she would
> still be doing one-and-one-half gallons.”
> 
> Suited to a low-input farming model, a Dexter dairy herd
> could be a way for new farmers to get started with less
> debt and less dependence on fluctuating grain prices.
> Unlike modern dairy breeds, Dexters have not been bred for
> one particular trait. Beryl Rutherford’s cows making a
> good chunk of their milk on maintenance rations in Great
> Britain may illuminate an opportunity for American dairy
> farmers caught in the crunch of high grain prices–
> producing less product while trimming costs to a minimum.
> 
> In 2005, Beryl Rutherford completed a book on her life as a
> farmer: My Love Affair with the Dexter (Triple D Books).
> Filled with tales of adversity and success that could
> originate from someone working with any breed of cattle,
> Rutherford also highlights some strengths of the Dexter
> breed. Rutherford writes that over the years many of her
> cows calved and milked well into their teens.
> Rutherford’s Dexters lived for many years with minimum
> shelter in England’s sometimes inhospitable climate.
> “Because of their long history in Ireland of neglect,
> they are hardy and tough and live where other breeds would
> not,” writes Rutherford.
> 
> The milk records from Rutherford’s herd from 1971 and
> 1972 show the potential for the breed but also raise the
> question of where cows producing this amount of milk fit in
> the modern marketplace. Many of Rutherford’s cows gave
> 4,000 to 6,000 pounds of milk in a lactation, or around 500
> to 700 gallons of milk.
> 
> Although this much milk might not make much of a dent
> paying the bills on many dairy farms, farms that process
> their own milk into a value-added product may be able to
> make use of the strengths of a breed like the Dexter while
> maximizing the value of modest milk yields.
> 
> Rosemarie Belforti runs Finger Lake Dexter Creamery in New
> York, milking four Dexters. Belforti’s Dexters stand
> around 36 inches—somewhere around the lower height limit
> of the breed standard. Belforti may milk small cows on a
> relatively small scale, but she says that her product,
> kefir cheese made fresh on the farm, is in big demand.
> “Sales have been good and consistent,” says Belforti.
> 
> Like many farmers working with an unusual breed, Belforti
> says that there is a large demand for the breed itself.
> “There is great interest in Dexters right now. I have
> people calling every week to come and look at them. I have
> a waiting list of folk who want to buy Dexters. The
> interest I think is getting bigger and bigger.”
> Randall Linebacks
> 
> Jim Stampone, of Winter Hill Farm in Freeport, Maine, milks
> seven cows that are even more rare than Belforti’s
> Dexters. Randall Linebacks originated on the farm of
> Everett Randall in Sunderland, Vermont. Descended from
> cattle common in New England in the 18th and 19th
> centuries, Randalls are triple purpose—they historically
> produced meat and milk and were used as draft animals. Kept
> as a closed herd by the Randall family for 80 years, Randall
> cows exist as a genetic link to a time when cows were not
> pushed as far as they are now for milk production.
> 
> “These cows are allowed to be cows,” says Stampone,
> whose Randalls give about 2 gallons of milk a day,
> approximately the same level of production as Belforti’s
> Dexters. Winter Hill Farm sells its dairy products at local
> stores. “Our customers just go wild for our product,”
> says Stampone, attributing the demand to his herd. “I
> have to believe it’s the cows,” says Stampone.
> “We’ve been good to the cows, and the cows have been
> good to us.”
> Downsides of the alternatives
> 
> There are also some negatives to choosing an alternative
> breed of cow to milk. Beryl Rutherford points out that
> milking smaller cows means overhead for the entire farm is
> greater. If a farmer milks twice the number of cows to get
> the same amount of milk, overhead has to be at least
> double. Without turning the milk into a processed,
> value-added product like cheese—as do Jim Stampone, Mark
> Fellows and Rosemarie Belforti—that extra cost may be
> insurmountable.
> 
> Many of the rare breeds, like Dexters or Randall Linebacks,
> also offer the difficulty of assembling a herd. Dexter
> numbers have been on the rise worldwide in the past decade
> but Randalls still number in the hundreds. If a farmer
> wanted to buy 20 milkers of either breed, they would be
> hard-pressed to find the animals.
> 
> Many people dedicated to the survival of rare breeds have
> herds where the animals are only handled occasionally, so
> the animals aren’t accustomed the close quarters with
> people. Jim Stampone points out the challenge of buying an
> animal from a herd that has not been regularly handled:
> “If you bring a bred heifer home [from a herd like this],
> you’re going to have a handful.”
> Dutch Belted
> 
> Although many dairy farmers are not in an economic position
> to switch to a breed of cattle that produces dramatically
> less milk than a modern Jersey or Holstein, all dairy
> farmers are looking for a way of coping with rising grain
> prices. Henry Perkins, who milks approximately 60 organic
> cows in Albion, Maine, says farmers should get a better
> price for milk, given the current cost of grain. “I’ve
> got to have more money or it’s bye-bye,” he says. “I
> need to eat, too.”
> 
> Perkins stopped milking purebred Holsteins about 15 years
> ago, crossing his cows to a Dutch-belted bull. Introduced
> into North America by P.T. Barnum, Dutch Belted cows have
> become somewhat popular in recent years as a way of
> introducing hardier blood to the standard Holstein. An
> extremely rare breed, with only approximately 200 cows of
> breeding age in the world, Dutch belted cows are also known
> for the hardiness and ability to turn grass into milk
> without large amounts of grain. Henry Perkins’ daughter
> Jackie, who works with her father on the farm in Albion,
> says they also calve easier than the standard Holstein and
> that the calves thrive. “The calves are a little bit
> tougher,” she says.
> 
> You may sacrifice quantity, but you'll get quality with
> the Dutch Belted. They do great on pasture and produce a
> much-sought-after butterfat.
>       
> 
> Henry and his daughter are using their wits and expertise
> to balance milk production with health and longevity. Henry
> Perkins says he got into Dutch Belted cows almost by
> accident—he liked the color of one he saw at an auction
> and got her cheap because no one else was smitten by the
> unusual markings. The bargain milked well and thrived; soon
> the Perkins farm boasted the first herd with Dutch Belted
> genetics in the state of Maine.
> 
> Although Perkins found that the cows with more Dutch Belted
> genetics gained hardiness, he also found that when his herd
> approached 100-percent Dutch Belted status, milk production
> was not what he needed. Currently, the pendulum is swinging
> the other way at the Perkins farm. Henry is breeding his
> Dutch Belted-Holstein crosses with a Holstein bull, aiming
> to keep hardiness and milk production at the same time.
> With a wary and practiced eye towards farming realities,
> Henry Perkins says: “I’m looking for options right now.
> If they want a supply of organic milk from what they
> consider a traditional organic farm, they’re going to
> have to pay more or it’s going to dry up.”
> 
> Organic dairies across America are succeeding in the goal
> of producing a product that American consumers want. The
> question remains whether prices and markets—feeds and
> breeds—will come together in such a way that allows
> organic dairies to flourish financially. As fuel and grain
> prices continue to exert negative pressure on organic dairy
> farms, more pastures may become populated with unusual
> cows—cows like Rosemarie Belforti’s tiny Dexters or
> Richard Beal’s striking Milking Shorthorns. A move toward
> hardier, thriftier cows—cows that make milk from
> grass—may be one essential way in which dairy farmers
> adapt to the challenges of the modern marketplace.
> 
> John O'Meara farms in northern Maine, where he milks
> both Dexters and modern dairy cows.
> 
> Posted May 2, 2008
> 
> 
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