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  • From: "Aliza" <realfood@wonderfulfarm.com>
  • To: <speakingbeareturns@yahoo.com>, "Healthy soil and sustainable growing" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Alternative cows find their dairy niche
  • Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 08:30:07 -0700

and in some urban settings you can have a mini or dwarf in your yard. Takes very little time to milk one of those little guys and you have fresh milk every day as well as some meat if you let them raise some kids.

Aliza
----- Original Message ----- From: "su do" <speakingbeareturns@yahoo.com>
To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 3:54 PM
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Alternative cows find their dairy niche


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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