Calf housing made cheap, easy and efficient

kurtenbachcalfhutch1 — These panel-and-tarp hutches offer a nice environment for the calves, and labor savings at a low cost for Lee Kurtenbach. The structures are dismantled after weaning, allowing bedding packs to be cleaned and the entire line to be moved a few feet for the next spring’s calf crop. Photo: Lee Kurtenbach

Mechanicsville, Iowa— With more than 400 cows to milk and not a lot of labor on hand, Lee Kurtenbach likes things simple, efficient, effective and cheap. That’s why he’s using wire stock panels covered with tarps to house some 90 separate groups of young dairy calves, five to a group.

Lee calves seasonally starting in early March, and keeps his Jersey bulls until they’re actually worth some money. He needs some shelter in his southern Iowa climate and likes portable calf housing, but in Lee’s view fiberglass domes and the like are too expensive and too much work. Continue reading “Calf housing made cheap, easy and efficient”

March 1, 2009April 18, 2020

From beef, to dairy, to a full-time living

Hudsons learned first, purchased later

Dublin, Virginia—When George and Julie Hudson took the Hoard’s Dairyman dairy knowledge test not too long ago, they both failed. Maybe that’s because milking cows is their means to an end, rather than the be-all, end-all of their existence.

“We’re not dairy people,” admits George, who actually did grow up on a confinement dairy. Shortly after high school graduation, at a time when other young men with agricultural backgrounds were studying pick-up trucks or fancy-uddered cows, George was taking classes in accounting and real estate. When others might have been trying to make a go of milking cows or working in town, George was driving a school bus, leasing land, and learning how to make money grazing a commercial cow-calf beef herd. Continue reading “From beef, to dairy, to a full-time living”

February 1, 2009April 18, 2020

The economics of once-a-day milking

Can OAD and no grain combine to create wealth and happiness?

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania—Let’s talk about radical change and alternative dairy economics. A dozen years ago, Cliff Hawbaker was milking cows three times a day, housing them in freestalls, earning and burning a lot of cash, and just starting to think about getting his cows out on pasture for a few hours each day between milkings.

Today, Cliff has completed his third year of owning and helping to manage an entirely spring-calved, 120-cow satellite herd that was milked just once a day (OAD) in each of those three seasons, and which last year was fed no grain during lactation. In 2008, Cliff transitioned the 300-head home farm over to OAD, with the only grain for a herd dominated by large Holsteins coming from seven dry matter pounds of corn silage per day. Continue reading “The economics of once-a-day milking”

April 1, 2008April 18, 2020

From zero to $300,000 in five years

Young couple shows there’s money in start-up grass dairy

By Larry Tranel, Kieler, Wisconsin —There is no money in dairying. Dairying is too much work. It takes too much capital to start dairying. You can’t graze dairy cows profitably. You cannot outwinter dairy cattle and survive. You can’t crossbreed dairy cows. You can’t start dairying with high-priced land and cows.

You can’t be profitable with 15,000 pounds of milk per cow. One person cannot handle 80 cows. Profits of $1,000 per crop acre or $1,000 per cow for return to labor cannot be done. Earning $30-$50 per labor hour milking cows is impossible. Landlords are better off getting rid of the dairy cows and cash cropping the farm. You can’t earn a 20% return on assets from dairying. You need more than 80 cows or 80 acres to make it dairying. The naysayers go on and on. Continue reading “From zero to $300,000 in five years”

February 1, 2008April 18, 2020

It’s tough to beat $4.65 per hundredweight

Tim Pauli’s model offers small-farm hope for an uncertain future

Belleville, Wisconsin — For a while now I’ve had a theory that if we could turn the calendar back about six decades, and proceed from that point in agriculture on a path very different from the reality of what mainstream Americans chose, the world would be a better place.

And when I think these thoughts, Tim Pauli is usually part of the process. Continue reading “It’s tough to beat $4.65 per hundredweight”

November 1, 2007April 18, 2020

Advice from 10 years of no-grain dairy

Moores: it’s all about energy and keeping flesh on cows

Nichols, New York— Rob Moore, who has not fed grain to his milking cows for the past 10 years, has mixed feelings toward the subject.

Rob is happy with his choice, saying “this is the way I want to farm.” Over the years he learned how to keep his cows in good body condition while getting enough organic milk out of them to provide family living and make payments on two farm mortgages. Today that organic check is usually above $28/cwt., but a decade ago it was closer to $11. Rob and his wife, Pam, believe no-grain offers opportunities for others, and Rob has said so at grazing conferences and other venues. Continue reading “Advice from 10 years of no-grain dairy”