The National Organic Program (NOP) has released new rules for livestock that mandate access to pasture for ruminant animals. These rules require that a percentage of the necessary dry matter intake per day come from pasture.  The minimum is 30% dry matter per head per day for at least 120 days over the grazing season. [...]

Filed under: Animals, Grazing/Pasture, Healthy Food, Organic Dairy, Organic News, sheep on March 4th, 2011 | No Comments »

There seems to be an increased interest in 100% grassfed dairy products out there in the marketplace. The food products that come from animals raised on grass are said to have a higher nutritional value (click here for more information http://www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm).  Eggs, meat and dairy are the main areas of focus for farmers trying to [...]

Filed under: Grazing/Pasture, Organic Dairy on January 28th, 2011 | No Comments »

One thing that has really help our family’s health has been the introduction by Marjorie of keifer into our diet. We take organic whole milk that I can get locally, add raw eggs from our chickens,  some bananas and coconut oil and blend up. Everyone has a glass of this every day. The cultured milk [...]

Filed under: Healthy Food, Organic Dairy on December 24th, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Sheep and cows together are a good thing. I’m currently grazing cattle in a planned rotation, moving them daily. I also have a herd of St. Croix hair sheep, which I allow them to graze at will. Couple of comments about this arrangement and my thinking behind it:
1. In nature the overriding principle is diversity [...]

Filed under: Grazing/Pasture, Organic Dairy, Uncategorized, sheep on July 28th, 2010 | No Comments »

Well, we’re in full swing with grazing dairy replacement heifers from a local Mennonite dairyman. So far we’ve managed to graze approximately 13 acres with 30 cows. That might seem like a small amount for so many cows, but what I’m employing is a technique called “mob grazing”  – it’s essentially a replica of the [...]

Filed under: Animals, Grazing/Pasture, Organic Dairy on July 5th, 2010 | No Comments »

Amongst many things I do on this farm, I have a custom grazing service for the Amish/Mennonite dairy farmers in the area. Due to the new organic  pasture rule that has just passed through the USDA, organic dairy farms must graze their animals (except for their bulls) in such a way that  a minimum of [...]

Filed under: Grazing/Pasture, Organic Dairy, Organic News, Uncategorized on April 21st, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Due to my job as plant manager of Farmer’s All-Natural Creamery (where we procure, bottle and sell milk), I get to observe quite a bit of what happens in the organic dairy industry. The past year and a half has been devastating to the dairy industry in general, and very difficult for organic farmers specifically. [...]

Filed under: Organic Dairy, Organic News on March 15th, 2010 | No Comments »