GLCI Grazette

Twilight Dairy Grazing Management Meeting in the Unadilla River Watershed

The Otsego and Madison County Soil and Water Conservation Districts, The Otsego Co. Grazier’s Group, The Upper Susquehanna Coalition, and The Graze-NY Program are teaming up with 20 year dairy grazing veteran, Brian Hackley, for an after-milking twilight pasture-walk on August 19th from 6:30pm to 9pm at 7301 County Highway 18, West Winfield, N.Y. (1 mile south of Bridgewater off Route 20).

Brian Hackley’s family farm legacy spans 8 generations of dairy farming in the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay.  The river bottom farm consists of 250 acres of owned and rented land with 50 acres in a rotational grazing system for the 45 dairy cows.  Brian describes his journey into grazing management as self-taught with help from other farmers, pasture walks, books and agency partners.  “The cows have helped me the most by showing how they like my management with their milk production, said Brian. Grazing has helped me obtain a 6:1 milk to grain ratio, lower my fuel/utility use and improve herd health.” 

He uses portable tumble-wheels to move the cows on a daily basis within a high tensile fence boundary and recently added above ground pressurized water system with new movable tubs.  He has worked with local staff from the Otsego/Madison County Conservation Districts and USDA-NRCS field office to design and implement conservation on the ground.  He has utilized the USC sponsored post driver in building new fencing infrastructure and has installed laneways, a water system and a milk-house waste system while implementing prescribed grazing management.  

We invite you to discuss grazing strategies, measure Brix levels in the grass and learn from an experienced dairy grazier for improving your operation’s bottom line.
Please join us at the farm for practical knowledge, fellowship and homemade desserts. 

To register or get more information, please call Troy Bishopp, @ Madison Co. SWCD (315) 824-9849 or Bob Weaver @ Otsego Co. SWCD (607) 547-8337

July 2010

For information on facilities or services, or to request sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids at meetings, please contact the individual listed for the event at least 10 days prior to the meeting date.

Upcoming Pasture Workshops and Related Events:

1-Day Intensive with Ken McDowall – Wednesday, July 7th – Eagle Hill School, Hardwick, MA – Learn about eye appraisal of breeding cattle, breeding schemes for success, and methods used to breed the Rotokawa Devon herd from Ken McDowall, the breeder of this herd which you will also be able to see.  Ridge Shinn of Rotokawa Cattle Company will also be speaking.  Cost: $100 for a full day of workshop time, box lunch included.  Contact Ridge Shinn at Rotokawa Cattle Company at 413-477-6500 or ridge@rotokawacattle.com for more information.

Organic Grazing with Dr. Hue Kareman Pasture Walk – Friday, July 9th – 10:30 am to 2:00 pm – Tillotson’s Cottonwood Dairy, 10771 Cook Road, Pavilion (Genesee County) – Hue will talk about the experience he has received as a veterinarian in Lancaster County PA working with Amish Dairies, and the treatments they use.  Hue is now transitioning from his veterinarian practice to farm consulting, focusing on preventing animal ailments through sound management of pasture and other animal husbandry practices.  The Tillotson Dairy milks 320 cows on 400 acres of pasture, with another 200 acres in grass and 120 acres in triticale.  Paul relies on good record keeping to help him manage the dairy and has aided as he transitions the farm to the next generation.  We will also take a look at the robotic calf feeders used on this dairy.  Event organized by Cornell Small Dairy Program and NOFA-NY with refreshments provided by Horizon Organic and GLCI.  For more info, contact Kristina Keefe-Perry at 585-271-1979 x505.

Poultry School – Thursday, July 10th – 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm – Pete and Jen’s Backyard Birds, 159 Wheeler Road, Concord, MA – At this workshop, you will learn how to grow, manage and ration pasture and other forage for livestock production.  The training will include both classroom and hands-on practical components.  Topics covered will include biosecurity practices for your flock, brooding facilities, breeds for profitability and suitability for pasture rearing, and more.  Workshop registration is $35; $5 discount for NOFA members.  This workshop is part part of NOFA’s “Backyard Poultry Day”, sponsored by New Entry Sustainable Farming Project.  For more information and registration visit http://nesfp.nutrition.tufts.edu/resources/livestockschool.html.

Hudson Mohawk Grass Masters – Monday, July 12th – 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm – Dan Brudos’ farm, 2025 Putnam Road, Schenectady (Schenectady County) – Brett Chedzoy, a forester from Cornell Cooperative Extension, will be speaking about silvopasturing.  Silvopasturing is the combination of timber, forages and grazing livestock for beneficial purposes.  It can range from enhancing open pastures with trees, to modifying woodlots and plantations to create adequate quality and quantity of browse - while at the same time cultivating a valuable timber resource.  Host Dan Brudos is a new member of Grass Masters and is converting grown up shrubby/woody fields back into pasture with the help of his Scottish Highland cattle.  This is a potluck so feel free to bring a dish to share or something to grill.  This session is being co-sponsored by the Schenectady County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Mohawk Valley Graziers. For more information, please contact Elizabeth Marks, Coordinator at 518-828-4385 extension 105.

Meat Processing and Marketing – Tuesday, July 27th – 9:30 am to 2:00 pm – Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, 200 Westboro Road, North Grafton, MA – This workshop will help you determine the options for processing, preserving and marketing meat.  Livestock and poultry producers will have the opportunity to hear from and speak with local chefs and distributors about marketing local meats; processors and regulators will discuss what producers need to know about meat processing; and growers will learn about labeling requirements, alternative marketing such as meat CSAs, and more.  Cost:  $40 before July 20th, $50 afterwards or at the door – additional registrants from same farm may register for $25 before July 20th ($35 late or at the door - includes lunch and resource materials.  Sponsored by New Entry Sustainable Farming Project – for more information and registration visit http://nesfp.nutrition.tufts.edu/resources/livestockschool.html

Organic/Grassfed Dairy Pasture Walk – Wednesday, July 28th – 10:30 am to 2:00 pm – Zufall Dairy, 20 Campbell Road, Lisbon (St. Lawrence County) – This dairy has been 100% grassfed for three years.  Since the animals are outside for more than half the year, there’s less manure to handle.  The cows are cleaner and have fewer foot problems.  The herd makes a circuit of most of Mr. Zufall’s 540 acres, taking about 30 days to get back to the beginning.  The family clips off what the cows don’t eat in any given area so weeds don’t take over and everything grows at about the same rate.  Event organized by Cornell Small Dairy Program and NOFA-NY with refreshments provided by Horizon Organic and GLCI.  For more info, contact Kristina Keefe-Perry at 585-271-1979 x505

Advance Notice:

Hudson Mohawk Grass Masters – Wednesday, August 18th – 6:30 pm - Mack Brook Farm, Karen Christiansen and Kevin Jablonski, 312 McEachron Hill Rd, Argyle (Washington Co.) -  We will be touring the farm and discussing animal handling techniques.  Mack Brook has also developed a very successful local, low cost marketing strategy.  Co-sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension.  For more information please contact Elizabeth Marks, Coordinator at 518-828-4385 extension 105.

Solar Energy Field Day – Tuesday, August 24th – 10:00 am to noon - Twin Oaks Organic Dairy, 3185 NYS Rt. 13. Truxton, NY 13158 (Cortland County). Bob, Rick and Kathie Arnold worked wth Triangle Electrical Systems of Plattsburgh, NY to install their 27.6-kilowatt PV (solar electric) system.  The system was sized to produce 107% of the annual electrical energy needs at Twin Oaks' main farmstead.  Assistance from The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the USDA helped to reduce the cost of the four large arrays that are on two axis trackers.  For those times when the energy produced by the panels is greater than the needs of the farm, the excess flows into the utility grid.  Co-sponsored by the Cornell Small Farms Energy Work Team and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York.  Free.  Refreshments will be provided.  To register, contact Violet Stone at 607-255-9227 or vws7@cornell.edu.

Pasture News: 

Team Registration for NYS Grassland Evaluation Contest at 2010 Empire Farm Days Due August 1

Seneca Falls, NY – Student teams interested in competing in the 5th Annual NYS Grassland Evaluation Contest at the August 10-12, 2010 Empire Farm Days must register by August 1, 2010. Contest rules, study guide and registration form are available on the Seneca Trail RC&D Council website at www.senecatrailrcd.org. The 2010 Contest will be held Thursday, August 12, 2010.  
 
This contest, a project of the Seneca Trail Resource Conservation and Development Council with support from the NYS Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative Steering Committee, is designed for a team of 3-4 high school students and is open to FFA and 4-H students.  The NYS Grassland Evaluation Contest has awarded more than $3,500 in continuing education scholarships and provides an opportunity for the student teams to travel to compete in the Mid-America Grassland Evaluation Contest in Missouri.  The students will use their skills and knowledge for managing grassland resources for a modern dairy, beef or sheep operation in a sample grassland field at the Empire Farm Days at Rodman Lott & Son Farms in Seneca Falls, NY. They will evaluate the field for available forage resources, herd management decisions balanced against resource condition; site conditions for wildlife needs; and the life cycle and nutrient needs of specific grass species.
 
For more details on the contest, contact JoAnn Kurtis, Seneca Trail RC&D Coordinator at 716-699-2375 x5, joann.kurtis@ny.usda.gov.
 
The 300-acre Empire Farms Days agricultural extravaganza also includes DairyProfit Seminars, live animals, an Equine Center, farm safety and family life displays and activities, 600-plus representatives of agricultural institutions and organizations, GPS-equipped and compact tractor test drives, and chicken, beef and pork BBQ. For more details, contact Empire Farm Days Manager Melanie Wickham at 877-697-7837, mwickham@empirefarmdays.com. #

Pasture Management Tips:

On a recent farm visit, the question of how often to clip pastures was raised by the farmer.  He indicated that he wanted to maintain pasture quality, but to save on fuel costs, only wanted to clip when it was really needed.  Of course, like most things, the answer was "it depends". 

What does it depend on?  First and foremost, it depends on how much forage is being rejected by the animals.  That depends on how mature the forage is, how many times they have grazed the paddock since it was last clipped, and how much manure is building up in the paddock.   If a significant amount of the forage is being rejected, this will decrease the intake of your livestock.  Lactating dairy cows will tell you right away if they don't want to eat what's there or can't find what they need to eat - your milk tank shipment will drop.  Other kinds and classes of livestock are more difficult to determine when the time is right for clipping.  Of course, the decision to clip also may depend on your own personal tolerance for how the pastures look.

A management strategy that can help to reduce the need for clipping is smaller paddocks and more frequent moves.  Just like people, when there is a limited quantity of food available, animals will graze more aggressively and will do a better job of harvesting - in other words, they are less selective about what they eat.  Your paddocks are more likely to be grazed more evenly, and there will be less rejected forage - there will also be less waste due to trampling.  Of course, this results in a need to move them more frequently, because they will run out of forage more quickly.  The return on more management is less clipping, and less fuel and time spent doing so!

Notes:

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Brought to you by the NYS Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative.  The Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative is a grass-roots coalition of producers, agricultural industry, and conservation groups with an interest in the sound conservation of private grazing lands. The goal of this newsletter is to increase awareness of grazing events around New York and in neighboring states, as well as to provide information that is useful on the farm.  For more information on GLCI, check out the national GLCI website at www.glci.org.  Information on the NYS GLCI can be obtained from GLCI Coordinator Karen Hoffman at the email address above. 

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