the magazine that is by graziers, for graziers
By Allen Williams
The Covid-19 pandemic has created significant upheaval across the world, and certainly right here in the U.S.
With the shelter-in-place orders, restaurants closing to inside dining, and schools and universities shutting down in-person education, the impact on agriculture and the food industries has been monumental.
Continue reading “Weak links”
By Janet McNally
Hinckley, Minnesota—Years ago I was interested in trying mob-stock grazing that uses higher stocking densities and daily moves.
What held me back was knowing that at some point in early June we would face a tremendous amount of rank growth going to seed and no longer nutritious.
My approach at the time was to have sheep covering every acre in late-May/early-June, biting each plant in an effort to control growth and seedheads. Continue reading “Managing the rank growth of summer”
Successful graziers must leave linear thinking behind
By Allen Williams and Russ Conser
Lion King, as with all Disney movies, has a great plot and some catchy tunes, but also a deeper moral to the story. In this case it is about the “circle of life.”
Circles have no beginning or end. If we start anywhere on a circle and follow it around, we end up in loop coming back to where we started. The Lion King circle was about the big loop of life and death.
By Martha Hoffman
Whitingham, Vermont — For the past 152 years the Corse family has milked cows in south central Vermont.
Today, Leon Corse, his wife, Linda, and their adult daughter, Abbie, are doing their best to continue that legacy with organic-certified management tailored to their farm. And they’re helping others begin their own legacies through participation in the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship, a program aiming to bring new dairy farmers into the industry.
Continue reading “Keeping a farm in the family”
By Martha Hoffman
Middlebrook, Virginia — Dairy experience was the main capital Ben and Kristen Beichler used when they started their grass dairy in 2017. An investor group covered the cash.
Since then, there have been plenty of surprises and curveballs, but with some creative solutions they’ve been able to employ, the Beichlers are happy with the direction they’re headed in feeding no grain, milking once a day, and selling raw milk herdshares.
Continue reading “Doing what it takes to launch a grass dairy”By Martha Hoffman
Greg Stricker had been eyeing OAD milking for six years, running the numbers to see what net profit would look like with the expected 30% drop in milk production.
Greg and his family, which includes his father, Forrest, milk 120 mostly Jersey cows year-round in southeastern Pennsylvania. Greg keeps a sharp eye on the farm’s finances. The Strickers do not feed any grain, shipping to Natural by Nature’s organic grassfed program. So while the milk price is higher than with conventional organic, the herd’s production levels are lower.
Continue reading “Greg Stricker’s once a day story”