Volume 27, No. 5 ‘by graziers, for graziers’ May 2020

‘We could end up in a better place’

him, he knows it’s because those Farm marketers are seeing booming stores are selling cheaper. “I feel like we’ve lost some cus- business during the pandemic tomers through that,” Ralph says. “But we do feel the customers we By Martha Hoffman turned into something completely dif- have today are very committed.” ferent as restaurant and institutional He thinks they value knowing their The alternative markets for live- sales collapsed, and direct, local sales farmer and the Schlatters’ no-grain stock product sales are always shift- staged an astounding revival. methods. ing with the whims of the customer. Here are their stories. Yet sales growth had indeed While consumers continue to buy slowed. They were looking at having grassfed and organic dairy and meat to pursue some advertising, they’re products, big companies and big Schlatters’ direct getting their website updated, and stores have taken increasingly large they have been looking to expand shares of those sales. sales no longer their overall online presence. That trend turned on a dime over Ralph wants to sell the way they the past two months with the onset stagnating farm, and they’ve started doing that of the Covid-19 pandemic. Reports in their emails to customers. With re- from across the country indicate that Defiance, Ohio — Ralph and generative farming the hot topic now, concerns about the food distribution Sheila Schlatter (Graze, Decem- he has reviewed their two decades of After years of flat sales, Ralph Schlatter’s system have caused consumers to ber 2017) are in their 27th year of soil tests showing a two percent or direct sales business is booming. re-think their choices and return to direct-marketing grassfed meat, eggs, more increase in organic matter, and livestock products from the produc- herdshare milk and farmstead cheese. calculated how much carbon has been plateau in 2015 and suffering a slow ers they know and trust. Some new They mostly sell directly to custom- sequestered with their rotational graz- drop in sales after that. Ralph blames customers are ordering, too. ers at their on-farm retail store and ing management. through weekly deliveries to nearly the change on the entrance of big-box In this article, we profile three farm He shares that when managed cor- 200 customers in the Toledo area an stores into the grassfed/organic sec- marketers who have been featured rectly, pastured livestock can actually hour northeast of the farm. tors. over the years in the pages of Graze. be good for the environment, and What started as a project to learn For years they made fliers but did He says his customers will talk tells how the farm is supporting good how these people had adjusted to the no other advertising, and saw constant about shopping at Costco or Sam’s stewardship. While orders through the rise of corporate competitors instead growth in demand until reaching a Club and, while they don’t say it to first two months of 2020 hadn’t in- creased, customers said they appreci- ated knowing what the farm is doing. “I think they’re on board with this, Chinks in the armor probably for good,” Ralph says. Food system’s weaknesses show need for something better Covid-19 sales boost And then things changed overnight. By Allen R. Williams, Ph.D. it the earth, while the learned find among the consuming public. The Starting in mid-March, sales rocketed themselves beautifully equipped pandemic triggered rounds of panic upward by about 75% as new custom- The Covid-19 pandemic has cre- to deal with a world that no longer buying that quickly cleared gro- ers started buying, and current ones ated significant upheaval across the exists.” cery stores shelves of many items. bought more. world, and certainly right here in The agriculture and food sys- First toilet paper, then other paper For several years their beef bundles the U.S. tems we have put in place over the goods. Next to disappear were — assortments smaller than a quarter With the shelter-in-place orders, past six decades — the systems staple food items such as milk, — sold slowly. But in recent weeks restaurants closing to inside dining, that have made the industry so meat, eggs, vegetables (first frozen, they’ve been selling fast. and schools and universities shut- proud, the systems that appeared to and then fresh), canned goods and The store offers their farm’s milk, ting down in-person education, the function seamlessly — have been bread. chicken, turkey, eggs, beef, pork and impact on agriculture and the food shown to have glaring chinks in For the first time in many lamb along with selection of organic industries has been monumental. their armor. people’s lives there were serious products from other sources. A quote from philosopher Eric shortages of these food items on Traffic through the store has notice- Hoffer has really challenged me The chinks grocery store shelves across the ably increased. A few customers have during these stressful times: “In A number of weak links have called with orders and requested them times of change, learners will inher- been exposed, creating chaos continued on page 8 continued on page 2

Dealing OAD Sales Will we Managing Personal with calf rank are learn? indexes bloat feeding growth booming

Pages 4-5 Page 6 Page 9 Page 12 Page 14 Page 18 Page 2 May 2020 Direct sales booming

demand will look like going forward. Grill restaurants. continued from page 1 Are customers just stocking up, or “Those are virtually all to be delivered to their cars or left in have the Covid-19 disruptions awak- gone,” Greg reports. coolers for a no-contact transaction, ened people who will keep buying To keep products mov- but mostly it’s been business as usual local when it’s over? He thinks at ing, he’s had to be creative, with people coming into the store. least some are questioning where the converting from wholesale The herdshare program has been grassfed beef sold in the big stores to retail packaging and going strong, and Ralph feels it’s the is coming from, and thus valuing the sales in a matter of a few driver getting people into the store, integrity of the local farmer. weeks. Being smaller and where they see the grassfed meats. Ralph and Sheila wonder if they inefficient by conventional After years of keeping the herdshares need to start ramping up beef produc- wisdom has also meant low-key, Ralph says the regulatory tion as they go forward. the Gunthorp operation and legislative climate has gotten “How can we take advantage of the is nimble and flexible to better. The Schlatters have started interest now and hold that interest?” changes. advertising herdshares a bit more. Ralph asks. “There’s lots of things “It wasn’t easy, but we running through our minds. How can did it,” Greg says. “Big Beef vs. cheese we take advantage of the new custom- processors can’t do that Not everything is selling great these ers and get them on board?” because they have an auto- days. The farm’s raw milk cheese mated line that either does business has suffered, as 75-80% of the packaging the machine the product was sold wholesale to Gunthorp alters was set up for, or it doesn’t companies impacted by the Covid-19 do anything.” Greg Gunthorp intends to diversify his markets. shutdowns. focus on the fly In the switch to retail, Selling their cheese hadn’t been product demand has varied. easy anyway, as pricing was a prob- LaGrange, Indiana — Greg Chicken has been selling better than Some existing markets started lem. While the Schlatters have won Gunthorp (Graze, January 2015) has normal and turkey is doing well, but selling more of his products, includ- awards for their cheese, it still doesn’t been selling pasture-raised meats pork is variable and duck sales are ing the online specialty meats seller sell like the grassfed meats, and Ralph processed on the farm in his USDA- nonexistent. Crowd Cow. They were already han- is wondering if they should cut back inspected facility for the better part of Many of his products are now go- dling one-sixth of Greg’s turkeys, but on its production. 20 years. ing to direct-marketing friends who now they came asking to sell his pork, The extra milk that isn’t sold in Before the coronavirus threw a have seen sales spike by up to 400% and Greg agreed. herdshares or cheese goes to the pigs. wrench into the system, Greg was and need more meat to fulfill orders. Greg says he doesn’t feel quite “I think it makes excellent pork,” selling mostly to restaurants, char- “It’s just crazy the number of secure now, but he thinks he has bet- Ralph says. cuterie shops, universities, Disney orders they’re sending out,” Greg ter security than if he was selling to He doesn’t know for sure what World, and O’Hare Airport’s Frontera reports. commodity markets. There’s more Page 3 risk, but he has more control, and nies moving into niche agriculture. Thoughts for the future However, long-term growth poten- that’s vital. “It gets more and more difficult tial is much closer to home as well. Greg is confident that at least some to wholesale all of the time, because Farmer retailers have seen customers In times like these, Greg says of his foodservice and wholesale the big guys have fancy label prod- double orders, and half of their cus- it’s especially important to be able customers will be coming back when ucts that they can produce way, way tomers haven’t bought before, Greg to make and implement good busi- the pandemic is over, and there may cheaper than pasture-raised animals,” says. ness decisions and adapt quickly to be more new buyers as well. “We Greg says. “If the regenerative ag movement changes. could actually end up in a better place can keep even a percentage of those, “Antibiotic-free” and “natural” for when this is over,” he says. “There’s Diversity looks different people’s purchases will have drasti- chicken, “cage-free” eggs, “gesta- definitely some opportunities.” Before the outbreak, Greg would tion crate-free” for pigs, large-scale cally shifted after this,” he suggests. While not knowing exactly what have said he had a good diversified confinement organic milk — all have markets will look like, Greg sees market for his products. “I thought been presenting problems. good potential for his business as well diversified was a whole bunch of res- “Those are growing way faster than Millers making as the entire regenerative ag niche. taurants in three major metropolises the pasture-raised niches are on the “I think we’ve seen a significant instead of a couple restaurants in one wholesale end,” he explains. yet another shift increase in the number of consumers big city,” he explains. “In the back of Greg saw the biggest growth in the that want to know how their food is my mind, I thought universities were farm-to-table grassfed sector from Kinsman, Ohio — Aaron and raised, processed and handled, and solid, because they’ll never close the 2007 to 2011, and it’s been difficult to Melissa Miller (Graze, May 2016) who it’s coming from,” he explains. universities.” expand the wholesale business since have been selling pasture-raised meats “The number in that crowd has He’s never liked selling more than then. His big customers have been for two decades, and they’ve seen doubled.” 15% of a product to one customer, mostly the same the past few years, many changes through the years. although he would sometimes bend with miniscule growth. Greg thinks that after the chips fall, They’ve gone through different that a bit when there was a steady Restaurant markets are pretty well consumers may start asking more business models that included cus- customer. saturated, and most chefs already questions about the imported beef in tom dairy grazing, sales of quarters grocery stores. and halves, almost all wholesale, and Greg now has a different idea of have relationships with farmers, so it almost all retail. what a diversified marketing strategy would be hard for a new farm to get The idea of food security and re- “We’re lucky we’re small enough would look like. He’d like to see a into those outlets. gional food changes can finally mean to be nimble, and large enough to do third of his sales going directly to While some cities continue to offer something: food on the table when it as a full-time operation,” Melissa consumers (picked up at the farm, opportunities, Greg says there’s just there are disruptions elsewhere. says. shipped, sold at farmers markets or not the broad opportunities there were “I think that message is going to They’ve seen a shift recently in buying clubs), a third going wholesale five or 10 years ago. be really strong going forward,” Greg their customer base. “In the last to retail outlets, and the rest going to offers. While he was able to get into the couple of years we saw much increase foodservice. With the current large-scale disrup- restaurant and wholesale markets ear- in our restaurant and our institutional tions in the food system, he sees the ly on and got a solid foothold there, trade, and a decrease in our private Tighter markets possibility of government policies do- he felt that same tightness going into sector and farm market individual ing a better job supporting regenera- Before the pandemic, he would say retailing and finding that online sell- sales,” Aaron says. the wholesale market was getting per- ers and stores already had farmers and tive agriculture and smaller, indepen- petually tighter due to bigger compa- weren’t looking for more. dent family farms. continued on page 5 Page 4 May 2020

it can help with soil health and clover persistence as well. Where we run into We know where to this issue most commonly is with new seedings and pastures that for what- be cautious with ever reason have better clover persis- these issues. tence. Year to year, we know based advisors on weather and location where to be This month’s question: cautious with these issues. In general the new seedings with a successful clover catch are the ones we watch most carefully. How do you deal with bloat? The other management philosophy we stick to is never letting the cows leave the barn too empty. In a perfect world we would have grass year round and very If you have a question you’d like addressed, contact Graze. little need for other forages or grain. In that case I would always be grazing grass that was no shorter that 12-14 inches, and the cows could go and slug- feed on some grasses and clovers that would in no way hurt them. But with our system, one with both forage and grain, we have the opportunity to capture David Erb more milk by using grasses that may be a little less mature, while balancing with hay and grain. Bloat was a concern during our first five to seven years of farming.We had made new seedings in 2001 when starting with dairy, and we had one or two With this in mind, we do not want our cows leaving milking with an empty cases each summer due to a too-high percentage of legumes in our pastures. We gut because these less mature swards are where bloat can become a serious discovered that a good way to prevent bloat is to feed some hay or baleage at issue. To capture the most from rumen efficiency and to prevent bloat, we feed the bunk for an hour or so before letting the cows out for grazing. This seems to our mix at both ends of the day during milking time so that cows are never work as a buffer against consuming too much high-legume forage on an empty running to a pasture overly hungry. While feeding twice when using very little stomach. supplement in peak grass may seem too intensive, it certainly takes some risk If we do have a bloating cow, a technique that has worked for us is to tie a out of the system and makes for a healthier cow and higher components. stick or some other object, such as a broom handle, into her mouth. This causes The other environmental issue we have in the back of our minds when man- her to chew on the object, which gets the saliva glands functioning and helps in aging pasture is the overall moisture condition. During times of higher precipi- getting her to burp gas. The stick/object should be roughly 24 to 30 inches long tation I always closely watch the legume situation in paddocks. Wet conditions and be tied on each side of the mouth to create a makeshift halter. can cause intakes to be more rapid when they first get to pasture, so bloat can Bloat issues disappeared once our seeded legumes faded after about four to creep up on you when it normally wouldn’t in drier conditions. six years and the native clovers came through in the stands. This happened even We’ve had only had two situations with bloat, and they were both during wet though the native clovers came in just about as thick as our seeded legumes had late-spring periods when clovers were coming on strong. In the case of the one been in the early years. We concluded that the native clovers are less likely to cow we were too late, but the other cow was early enough that we were able to cause bloat. save her with a bloat treatment.

David Erb milks cows on a certified organic dairy near Brinkhaven, Ohio. Eric Sheffer milks cows on a certified organic dairy near Hoosick Falls, NewYork.

Eric Sheffer Philip Witmer

Bloat has never been a big issue for our farm. After spending time in New We have used alfalfa as a base forage in the majority of our pastures since the Zealand and taking grazing classes there, I had a pretty decent exposure to bloat late ‘90s, so we have had a lot of experience with bloat. Prior to being organic issues. I certainly brought home that knowledge, and I would be willing to bet we added Bloat Guard (poloxalene) to our parlor pellet as a preventative mea- it saved some cows. Certainly we have pastures with enough legumes to easily sure. That added some expense, but it was far cheaper than dead cows. Cows cause issues, but sticking with a couple of basic management rules seems to needed to be on it for a few days prior to bloat condi- protect the cows. tions for best results, so we generally started when we The first rule is making sure we always estimate and understand the percent- first grazed alfalfa in the spring and kept it in until the age and maturity of legumes in the paddock. We never let the cows go out to a last alfalfa was grazed in the fall. The few times we paddock with us being blind to what’s out there. We always estimate dry matter tried to be stingy, it cost us dearly. availability and take a good look at the legume content so that we know what Eventually we built a loose-housing barn and the cows are getting in terms of grass quality and quantity. were able to supplement feed outside the parlor with This allows for better consistency in the overall diet because you can adapt a partial TMR. At that point, we dropped the Bloat with other feeds at the barn if necessary. We are looking at height, density and Guard and started feeding 15-20 lbs. of corn silage percentages of the different plants, as well as the overall maturity. By evaluat- per cow to carry the grain and pre-fill cows before ing the legumes within the sward, you can determine stage of growth and how grazing alfalfa. The corn silage adds enough rough- much of it is available to the cow as a percentage of the paddock. age to cut the frothy bloat. Soft-dough, small grain If we get to a paddock full of clovers and the maturity level isn’t quite far silages do the trick as well, but haylages do not. I think the less-digestible NDF enough along, we will alter our rotation a bit. Waiting until those plants are a in the grain silages helps form the rumen mat that slows the rapid fermentation little taller and more fibrous not only avoids bloat and other rumen issues, but that creates frothy bloat. I have not been able to successfully use coarse dry hay Olaf HaugenSomatic milks cows near Canton, Cell Minnesota. Program Liquid feed supplement (10 ml/day)  Dramatic reductions in SCC  OMRI listed  Production, fat and protein responses  Supporting research  17-18¢ per day Cinnatube TM The natural dry cow alternative — For organic production Dry cow tube for reduction of new mastitis infections Dry cow issues are among the most expensive problems to the dairy farmer, and there has been no product for the organic farmer to use. A recent trial, conducted by North Carolina State University and published in the Journal of Dairy Science, concluded that “The efficacy of theherbal products (Cinnatube) was similar to that of conventional (antibiotic) therapy, and the herbal products had no apparent adverse effects.”

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#.%0! $Čƫ * ċƫđƫ333ċ*!3#.%0! $ċ +)ƫđƫćĀĈġăĈĊġăĈĊăƫđƫ + '!Čƫ Page 5 either, as the cows will just leave it in the bunk and wait until they are released to graze. Can the changes last? Equal access to the partial TMR is vitally important. We have feed equally distributed in the bunk when the cows come in for milking, with extra bunk continued from page 3 and website marketing, the effort has space so every cow has access. If feed or space is limited, those shorted cows gotten them to a place where they’re will go out extra-hungry, gorge on alfalfa, and bloat. “That,” he adds, “has been thrown even selling a bit more than before. If we notice cows bloating we bring them back to the dairy and drench them on its head at the moment.” The Millers have had to cut animals with vegetable oil, which cuts the froth and disperses the foam. I put a cup or Before the Covid-19 outbreak, differently to meet the retail desires. two of oil in a calf drench bottle, fill the rest with warm water, and administer companies like Blue Apron offering They’ve put together new packages it. We keep Therabloat on hand for this occasion as well, but I’ve had more from-scratch meal ingredient delivery that have been moving well at good success with the vegetable oil. For cows in serious distress, we stab and install were hurting the Millers’ retail sales. price points like $50, $100 and $200. a trocar. This seems gruesome at the moment but is lifesaving, and for us the But at the same time they were get- Even when business was good, they wound has always healed up with no ting more wholesale orders, so they were always making new connections complications. pursued them because these larger or- to get more customers, so this was Equal access to the On our farm, the most likely time ders offer greater return for the work just a more intense version of what partial TMR is vitally for bloat comes with grazing alfalfa invested. By early 2020 their sales they were doing already. Aaron says in the fall, often after a dry spell has were about 90% wholesale. one rule in business is that you have important. ended and we’ve had good rains and to replace 20% of your customers succulent regrowth. When the leaves Wholesale to retail every year, and he’s found that to be are bigger than your thumb, those are When Ohio’s restaurants closed in the case. prime bloat conditions. We’ve also seen that bloat seems to be more common in the middle of March, that ratio had the evening, which is a problem as it may not be noticed until morning milking to be flipped, and in a hurry. At first, Trust is key when she is found blown up like a balloon, with all four legs in the air. Fortu- Aaron and Melissa were nervous that They’ve built their marketing on nately, by following preventative feeding measures we don’t have that happen they would have to sell animals on the the quality and consistency of their more than once every few years. commodity market. Since they grow meat, which has built trust. For ex- But if that’s the risk, why fight it? I once heard a Kiwi say that bloat is the for taste rather than packer needs, ample, one of their restaurant custom- price we pay for high-quality pasture. That rings true on our farm, as we see their cattle and hogs would be heavily ers sells hamburgers for $18. much better pasture productivity and milk yield from swards with strong le- discounted at the livestock auction. “When people go there, people will gume components. So we continue to take the risk of bloat, and try to manage With extra marketing legwork, say, ‘this is the best hamburger I’ve for it. things are looking up. “I think we can ever had,’” Aaron says. When they manage things now so we can avoid go back the next time, it has to be the Philip Witmer milks cows on a certified organic dairy near Dayton, Virginia. that,” Aaron says. same. Some restaurant customers were “You can’t butcher an animal just happy to share the Millers’ informa- because you have an order,” Aaron Olaf Haugen tion on social media to allow restau- adds. They have to be ready and up to rant patrons to purchase meat directly, standards. I’ve had very little trouble with bloat, and I think this is mostly due to having and they’ve been using the parking Melissa says part of their success legume content being no more than 60% of the stands, and more often around lots of their Cleveland restaurant has been the other people helping 40-50%. That said, I can think of two animals I happened to kill over the last wholesale customers as drop-off ensure the product is good, like their 10 years. One was on a heavy-alfalfa stand after points for the bulk of their direct butcher who knows just how much morning milking when there was a heavy dew and deliveries. fat to put in the hamburger to ensure the cows were a little hungry when they were getting They’ve generated some orders consistency. to the paddock. It was the perfect combination, and by looking back through 20 years The trust they’ve built with long- sure enough one really good cow went toes-up (it’s of customer orders and emailing or time customers has been vital, and never the ones you’d like to see disappear). The other calling to ask if they were interested the relationships with those people case of bloat came with similar conditions, but on red in products. It’s taken weeks of long are important for the business as well clover. hours to keep product moving. I supplement year-round with some type of corn Coupled with extra social media continued on page 7 silage — either field or sweet corn — and I do think this helps. The silage might be just enough “filler”

to keep cows from gorging on lush pasture. Or it LOOK TO AITCHISON!! might have some other properties that mitigate bloat When looking for the BEST no-till forage drill at the BEST price risk. While I try to manage pastures to limit the risk, • 7’-12’ width 5” - 6” row spacing they have grazed some really heavy clover or alfalfa • Affordable: $1100 per row stands without issue. I do not use bloat blocks or other supplements. • Sponge-feeding system sows forage mixes Overall, I’m not concerned about bloat unless really hungry cows are grazing evenly, accurately heavy, lush, wet legumes. • Reduce seeding rates 30%+ due to increased emergence Olaf Haugen milks cows near Canton, Minnesota. Our Drill: ┴-shaped slot 1-5/8” wide prunes competing roots, slowing the growth of the existing sward. Creates soil tilth, increasing access to soil nutrients. Retains 8x more moisture and 3x more oxygen than other planting systems. Clean, smear-free, cocoon-shaped, ideal mini-seedbed, yields consistent, uniform stands.

Other Drills: The V-slot made by disc drills have frequent poor emergence due to residue pressed into V-slot with the seed; and creates sidewall compaction. Poor depth control=over 50% of small seeds buried too deep or on top of the ground. Performance is speed sensitive.

“With the Aitchison Drill we now have excellent seed-to-soil contact any time we hit the field, even in dense sod. Everything we sow takes. I have sown 9 different seed species uniformly without separation.” — Joe Langmeier, Prairie Du Chien, WI

CALL TODAY FOR FEWER PROBLEMS (800) 432-4020 TOMORROW www.aitchison.co.nz • www.tigercoinc.com Page 6 May 2020 Joel McNair What we should be learning from Covid-19

What next? At the same time, this month’s was buying outside supplies to fulfill These days, people want to stay We’ve never been able to honestly Graze contains numerous reports orders. OV raised the production safe and they want to stay healthy, predict the future, and even less so about what’s happened in the world quota ceiling for its smallest produc- thus organic and “know your farmer” today. Epidemiologists, economists, of alternative marketing since early ers and began polling the membership are more important than convenience. sociologists, politicians and your March, and most of them are good. to learn how many others want to pro- Or at least these views hold sway in brother-in-law offer forecasts about To sum- duce more enough cases to benefit the farmers the pandemic’s impact that range from marize, new milk. producing and selling the food. a mere blip in the march of human life has been The progress all the way to Armageddon. pumped into co-op Which way? Some opinions are better grounded small-scale, was said Of course food trends do not last in reality than others. Mine is no bet- added-value to have forever. Organic and grassfed mar- ter than yours. marketing ven- recorded a keters worry whether another Great That said, most certainly things are tures that had profit for Depression will destroy sales of not what they were just two months been stagnant the first premium-priced foods. On the other ago. And perhaps there are sound or eroding due quarter hand, will consumers return to the reasons to believe that our current to the intrusion of 2020 big-box stores if the jobs do come predicament will bring about big of corporate after losing back and life becomes more hectic changes in how the world operates in conglomerates. money once again? the years to come. When the “safer at home” edicts start- on operations for three consecutive Good questions. This could go In particular I’m intrigued by the ing rolling in, producers who relied years. (I had not heard any talk of either of two ways. possibility that greater resiliency will upon farmers markets and institu- raising pay prices, however.) The good way would have the pan- be built into our lives. Potentially this tional/restaurant sales were forced to The strong performance of direct demic scaring enough people badly could bring about major changes in scramble to find new sales avenues. marketers and organic dairy might not enough that they will place greater agriculture — changes that very likely Yet in general the recent weeks be surprising given the near-complete value on in-home consumption of would be of benefit to you. have been a positive time for those obliteration of the institutional and foods produced closer to their home. I’ll get into that angle in just a producing and direct-selling grassfed sit-down restaurant businesses that More people might purchase freezers. bit, but first a very brief rundown on meats and other food products. account for some 40% of dairy sales The argument for this scenario is and even larger percentages for other that as of late April it seemed un- where we are and what the current Organic dairy is booming situation might mean for the future. livestock products. likely that restrictions on large and Organic and grassfed dairy have Organic and grassfed dairy have dense gatherings of people would be What’s changed benefited, too. Media reports and my relatively little exposure to this food- eliminated anytime soon. While some Obviously these are terrible times own contacts indicate that Aurora Or- service business, so any increase in loosening of the rules was happening for almost any producer selling into ganic, Organic Valley and Maple Hill supermarket sales bodes well for OV and more will take place in the com- conventional markets, and there’s just Creamery have all seen their sales and everyone else in the sector. ing weeks, a return to what we once no way to sugarcoat the near-term skyrocket as Covid-19 took hold and And fearful consumers are renew- viewed as normal is highly unlikely outlook. Good people are getting hurt restaurants closed. ing bonds with their previous meat/ this year, and perhaps in 2021 or even very badly, and the federal govern- OV’s utilization of member milk livestock product producers and sup- further out. People are that scared. ment will not be able to make every- in organic products neared 100% in pliers, while others are forging new In other words, the changed food- one whole. March and April, and the cooperative relationships with farmers. buying habits of recent weeks could

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Joel McNair Ruth McNair One year: $30 • Two years: $54 • For international rates see below Editor/Publisher Business/Advertising Director Online Contributing Editor: Martha Hoffman, Earlville, IL. Grazier Advisory Board: Olaf Haugen, Canton, MN; David Erb, Brinkhaven, OH; Visit www.grazeonline.com, click “Subscribe,” and follow instructions Philip Witmer, Dayton, VA; Eric Sheffer, Hoosick Falls, NY. from there. Contributors: Daniel Olson, Lena, WI; Jim Van Der Pol, Kerkhoven, MN; Janet McNally, Hinckley, MN; Nathan Weaver, Canastota, NY; Allen Williams, Starkville, MS; Jon Bansen, Monmouth, OR; Cheyenne Christianson, Chetek, WI; Karen Hoffman, Norwich, NY; John By mail Arbuckle, Newcastle, ME; Greg Brickner, Wonewoc, WI. Back issues Fill out the form below and mail it to: also available: Graze How to reach Graze: Web site: www.grazeonline.com PO Box 48 see page 16 Telephone: 608-455-3311 U.S. mail: Graze Belleville, WI 53508 P.O. Box 48 e-mail: [email protected] Belleville, WI 53508 U.S. subscription rates are $30 for one year (10 issues); $54 for two years (20 is- I am subscribing for: sues). Mexico/Canada rates: $38 U.S. for one year; $69 U.S. for two years. Over- seas: $60 U.S. one year; $108 U.S. two years. Single issues: $5.00. Copying or reprinting of articles originating in Graze is prohibited without written approval of One year (10 issues): $30 name the publisher. All materials are copyrighted 2020 by No Bull Press, L.L.C. Mexico/Canada: $38U.S.; overseas: $60U.S. street or rural address is published 10 times each year — monthly except for July and September Two years (20 issues): $54 — by No Bull Press, L.L.C., 5792 Alpine Road, Brooklyn, WI, 53521-9457. Subscrip- Mexico/Canada: $69U.S.; overseas: $108U.S. city, state, ZIP tion price: $30 per year. Periodical postage paid at Brooklyn, WI, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Graze, P.O. Box 48, Belleville, WI 53508-0048. ISSN: 1940-6185 USPS 024-496 Please make check payable to Graze Page 7

well be part of the culture for many one throws a monkey wrench into that could be a death sentence should “Once the dust settles from the months and even years to come. the system, which is basically what circumstances be greatly altered. The Covid-19 crisis, communities across Incomes may well be damaged but, happened with food over the past two same goes for polyculture cropping the world will find their economies short of a near obliteration of modern months. systems rather than monocultures fit- shattered — in part because we un- society, this new attitude could direct Over the decades agriculture ted to conditions that could well turn critically followed the ideas of David more dollars toward locally and re- morphed from dispersed, local and on a dime. Ricardo over the past two centuries,” generatively produced hamburger and regional production and marketing en- And as our pandemic is show- Sluman asserted. “We need a different pork chops, and fewer dollars toward tities to today’s highly concentrated, ing, resilience is definitely not about way forward.” a night out on the town. globalized systems that start with global supply chains and monopolistic His ideas — among them local The other thing that might happen industrial production, pass through buyers and processors. These mono- ownership, local investment, econom- is that the bad economic times could increasingly monopolistic processing liths are in fact quite brittle. They de- ic diversity and regeneration — make force out of business the great major- sectors, and end up on retail shelves pend upon realities that are anything sense for agriculture. ity of undercapitalized, small-scale ever-more controlled by the likes of but permanent. Even before the pandemic I had and independent producers, marketers Amazon and Walmart. The fact of the matter is that Moth- been seeing and hearing more dis- and retailers. We would be left with So when Covid-19 hits in a few er Nature has more control than we do cussion of the merits of resiliency. giant retail conglomerates and the fac- mammoth meat processing plants, we over current realities. So do viruses. The idea of shortening supply chains tory farms and imports that feed them. have a serious problem on our hands. had been gaining currency even at If we learn nothing from this pan- Livestock, milk, fruits and vegetables Principles the highest levels of government, demic, then I’m afraid the latter will were being disposed of in late April, As the pandemic deepened I ran although pursuit of the idea wasn’t happen. Yet perhaps we will learn — and I was starting to question agri- across a column entitled “Eight Prin- always being carried out very well. about the importance of resiliency. business assurances about the food ciples for Post-COVID Reconstruc- supply. tion” authored by Michael Shuman, a Will we change? Just-in-time noted alternative thinker in the world If we are lucky, Covid-19 is going For decades the U.S. and most of Resiliency of economic theory. to convince us to take a good look the developed world has gravitated Resiliency is the opposite of just- Sluman said that much of our into boosting our long-term resiliency, toward the “just-in-time” system of in-time. It builds in the redundan- economic theory is founded on the even if it comes at the expense of delivery and production. Developed cies required to get through times of argument, first proposed in the 19th short-term efficiency. by Toyota in the 1970s, just-in-time trouble. If one thing isn’t working, Century by British economist Da- In any event, agriculture is too involves bringing components to an something else is ready to step into vid Ricardo, “that every community important to be left to the devices of a assembly plant just before their use as the fray. If one thing is in short sup- should find one product to specialize just-in-time economic theory con- a means of reducing inventory costs ply, something else is in reserve. in and trade for everything else.” trolled by a few powerful hands. and boosting overall manufacturing Resiliency is healthy soil that can In other words, if I’m good at mak- My hope is that enough people will efficiency. withstand severe weather stresses, as ing bread, I’ll sell you my bread and wake up to the danger and forge real The system was adopted by a wide opposed to a soil-like medium depen- you won’t have to bake any for your- change before it’s too late. assortment of business sectors across dent upon high amounts of inputs and self. A concept that was once largely the globe, including the food industry. subject to weather extremes. local in nature has since become Joel McNair is editor and publisher of It fostered the consolidation of suppli- What’s resilient is a myriad of global. The problems of such thinking Graze and has a small farm in southern ers with the scale to efficiently deliver livestock and plant genetic material have been laid bare of late. Wisconsin. under just-in-time edicts. adapted to regions and localities — And it works very well until some- not a “one size fits all” prescription Sales picture changing

continued from page 5 hear, I think.” Aaron guesses half of their restau- as being enjoyable for Aaron and rant customers will be able to start Melissa. up again, and Melissa thinks the next several years will be heavy on retail. Moving forward Aaron and Melissa aren’t sure what The Millers have been focused on the future will look like for their busi- improving soil health, and it’s a good ness, but they’ve long shown their selling point. adaptability to change. “That’s the story we can tell now Says Melissa, “We’ve remade our- — healthy soil makes healthy meat selves over the past 20 years many, makes healthy people,” Melissa says. many times, and we will do it again.” “Nutrient density matters. And we’ve been saying it all along, but at the cur- Martha Hoffman is Graze contributing rent time that’s what people want to editor based in Earlville, IL. Normande LONG-TERM DAIRY LEASE Get a head start on spring breeding OPPORTUNITY IN SE WISCONSIN with Normande • gives rich milk for cheese and butter • a thrifty cow on forage • keeps her condition and breeds back • has sturdy calves that finish on grass with top marbling Certi fi ed organic dairy or livestock farm available for a long-term lease in SE Wisconsin. • 407 acres, mostly producti ve silt loam soils • 240 acres fenced, 220 acres of improved pastures • is docile for easy handling • improved lanes and pasture watering system • 16-unit swing over parlor with various outbuildings • two nice houses (details available upon request) • one of the highest breeds for A2A2 We are seeking moti vated, committ ed, and skilled dairy or livestock graziers, who want long- term land tenure with its freedoms and responsibiliti es to maintain and improve this beauti ful dairy farm far into the future. 612-823-7212 (central time) The land is owned by Yggdrasil Land Foundati on (www.yggdrasillandfoundati on.org), with an agricultural conservati on easement held by the Geneva Lake Conservancy. see our latest catalog at normandegenetics.com For more informati on contact info@yggdrasillandfoundati on.org. Winifred Hoffman and her family graze, milk and sell genetics from their Illinois herd that was established in 1936.

Page 8 May 2020

of panic buying and far more people Demand is such that many have Chinks in the armor eating at home. sold as much in a single month as they usually do in a year. They find Restaurant sales continued from page 1 things break down it becomes like a themselves rapidly running out of computer that no longer works. That Restaurant food sales across the product, not having enough finished entire U.S. Many feared we were run- computer quickly becomes a very U.S. have declined by more than animals to harvest, and hitting their ning out of food. expensive paperweight. 40%, while sales for dine-in restau- own processing bottlenecks. We farmers know that was not the As of mid-March we had more rants have fallen more than 70%. This Those who have benefitted most case. Instead it was a lack of ability to than 8.1 billion lbs. of frozen food is also impacting the food distributors have robust internet sales and ship- keep food from getting to the stores as stocks in storage around the U.S. This who deliver to those restaurants and ping capabilities, and who can deliver fast as people were buying. did not count the fresh foods being cafeterias. to customers within a 100- to 200- produced and processed daily, so we So even though there have been mile radius. Transport issues were not in danger of running out of store shelves with not enough meat, A number of folks have been very So the first weak link we will dis- food anytime soon. We simply could milk and eggs, we are dumping those innovative, such as creating “park- cuss is the transportation bottleneck. not get that food transported and same items because of a broken food ing lot sales” set up so customers can There are only so many trucks and stored. system. Believe it or not, it is hard to drive through, place an order, pay and drivers, and we cannot suddenly cre- redirect to grocery stores those foods get the order brought to their vehicle. ate more. They can transport only so Processing issues originally meant for the restaurant Direct marketers, branded programs much food across the U.S., so fast. The third weak link is our massive sector. and even food distributors have done this. When consumers across the coun- processing plants. Again, these are A flawed system try make runs on stores, it is impos- models of efficiency and economies Some restaurants have re-invented sible for the transportation sector to of scale. The simple fact is that we have had themselves as local grocery stores. keep up. When you consider that most When they are in operation. I knew a flawed food system for quite some Food distributors who lost their res- food items have to be transported it was simply a matter of time be- time. Our cheap transport system and taurant business have turned to home about 1,500 miles before reaching fore they were struck with Covid-19 global supply networks masked those delivery. Tough times force creativity their final destination, it is easy to worker sickness and absences. flaws, at least until we had a pandem- and innovation. ic. Everyone thought food would just see why a pandemic can cause such a Most of the major meat packers Small and mid-sized producers and “be there” whenever they wanted it. bottleneck. have been impacted. JBS, Tyson, Car- processors can be far more agile and gill, Sanderson Farms, Smithfield and With the food delivery system, it is responsive to local needs and demand Storage issues many others have seen plants shut- now incredibly important that we start shifts. The second weak link is a square ting down, increased worker absence, doing what we have been working on I love a recent quote from Judith footage issue with grocery stores, res- and significant interruptions in their with our soils: building resilience. Schwartz, Author of Water in Plain taurants and institutional foodservice. ability to process livestock and dairy This has to start with reducing our Sight and Cows Save the Planet: The vast majority of retail grocery products. Milk is being dumped, and reliance on a global supply chain. “Growing food is ultimately a matter stores, restaurants and cafeterias have fresh foods targeted for restaurants Remember that almost all our ma- of biology, not technology; a secure very limited space for dry goods and and institutions are being discarded. jor food processors are now global food program must consider how cold storage at their disposal. Vegetables are rotting in the fields companies. They are not just “U.S.” nature works”. Even if we could magically multi- due to the processing bottlenecks and companies. ply trucks and drivers and they could shortages of workers to harvest those Centralized food systems are far Can we capitalize? deliver far more food faster, the busi- crops. I watched a news segment on less attentive to what people need in So, the question is … have the nesses they are delivering to could the millions of pounds of onions rot- local areas. When we create these tables turned? When the pandemic not store it. During a “run” on their ting in huge piles because they had no national and global food chains, we is finally over and lives return to a businesses, most have only enough home. They were originally intended are more vulnerable to pandemics, quasi-normal state, will consumers re- storage capacity for three or four days for restaurants and cafeterias — busi- bio-terrorism, food safety issues and member their local farmers and local of food. nesses that no longer operated. numerous other challenges. and regional branded programs? Why is this the case? Because the Interestingly, meat sales increased Can we capitalize on this emerging food system we built has a “just-in- at historic rates during March and On the contrary opportunity to rebuild our national time” mentality. Grocery stores, res- into April. By the end of March, beef We are seeing quite a different food system, restore robust small and taurants and institutional foodservice sales had increased 91% compared to story on the other side of things. More mid-sized processing, and provide have been trained to pick up a phone, March 2019. consumers have discovered they can consumers with a trustworthy food place an order and have a truck arrive Ground meats saw the biggest buy their food from local farmers system that delivers healthy, nutrient- in the next day or two. increases, with ground beef sales up or by placing internet orders with dense foods? Entire food systems — from 104%, ground turkey up 87%, ground branded food programs. That is our call, and now is the time production, to processing, to sales, to chicken up 69%, ground pork up Our surveys of direct marketers to act. storage capacity, to inventory man- 89%, and even ground lamb up 33% and branded food programs who work agement — have been built on this compared to a year earlier. Fresh with us at Understanding Ag indicate Dr. Allen Williams is a partner in Under- concept. It seemed like a beautiful turkey sales increased 126%, while that they have seen 350% to 1,000%- standing Ag, LLC, based in Starkville, and highly efficient system, and it is. bison sales were up 123% and overall plus sales increases in the months of Mississippi. He can be reached at 662- When it works. However, when pork sales 101% due to a combination March and April. 312-6826 and [email protected]

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By Martha Hoffman When eight pens are full and the sometimes as high as 5-6 lbs. in calves are seven to ten days old, they the coldest winter weather. Earlier this year, Graze published a switch to OAD feeding and move into The grain is offered free-choice series of articles about milking once a group of 40 to learn how to use a on pasture in a 12-foot self-feeder a day as a way of saving labor. This 50-nipple milk bar in a quarter-acre atop a tandem trailer chassis. Ted raises at least one OAD-related ques- training paddock bounded by four- says it’s a labor-friendly system tion: how well does it work to feed wire fence. When two of these groups and feels that every calf gets the young calves just once each day? are ready, they are combined into a chance to consume what it needs. The answer will of course vary group of 80 and move out into one of Calves have access to grain until from farm to farm. With that in mind, the three, 40-acre ryegrass pastures April, when they are transitioned we talked with three dairy graziers used for calves. to an all-forage ration until just with experience feeding calves just The OAD feeding takes 1-1.5 hours prior to freshening. once each day. Here is what we dis- per day. The calves get as much milk Ted doesn’t see any slump after covered. as they want to drink, starting at about weaning, which he attributes to a gallon/head and peaking at 1.75 gal- grain and the high-quality an- lons at five weeks of age. nual ryegrass pasture available at Miller saves one Compared to feeding twice daily, that time. Calves are rotationally Ted says OAD allows him to manage grazed starting at weaning, and hired person the farm with at least one fewer em- they do fine here despite trees be- ployee during the fall months. “Obvi- ing the only available shelter. In Baskin, Louisiana, Ted Miller He has been breeding heifers milks his herd of 500 crossbred cows ously it’s a huge labor savings when Ted Miller to freshen at three years of age, as twice a day. But for the past decade you move to that, and we didn’t see Ted Miller’s calves start on five-nipple buckets. two-year-olds were having prob- he’s been feeding his calves just once any change in performance,” he says. lems with conception, produc- each day. About 30 to 50 cows providing calf morning milk is added to the tank tion and re-breeding. Ted says those Ted made the switch after it was milk are kept separate from the main and then pumped out for the calves problems are due to the extreme heat suggested by his business partner and herd. While these include fresh cows, through two-inch hose into the three, and humidity, not the OAD feeding mentor, Charles Opitz. high-SCC cows and any other known 50-nipple milk bars pulled with four- regimen. Some neighboring cow-calf Calving in this hot climate begins lower-quality milkers, a lot of sale- wheelers to the calf pastures. producers do the same thing. September 10 and finishes by Thanks- able milk does get fed in an effort to Milk volume is reduced starting at Calves just mature slower in the giving, with about 200 calves fed get them weaned by eight weeks. five or six weeks with a goal of hav- South compared to what Ted saw each season. OAD doesn’t start right Milk is run into a separate bulk ing calves eating 2 lbs./day of grain when dairying in Pennsylvania. For away, as for the first week they’re fed tank that’s cleaned every afternoon before milk is rapidly reduced for twice a day in groups of five for train- before being filled with the evening weaning at eight weeks. The calves ing to five-nipple buckets. milk and cooled to 50 degrees. The move up to 3-4 lbs./day of grain, and continued on page 10 Page 10 May 2020 OAD calf feeding Amount more important than continued from page 9 the calves hydrated. They don’t drink all of the water when they’re small. frequency instance, in Pennsylvania they were When small the calves get second- ready to dehorn at eight weeks, but in cutting dry hay, and when close to In Chambersburg, Pennsyl- Louisiana they have to wait until 12 weaning they transition to the best vania, Cliff Hawbaker feeds no weeks of age. baleage available. They get free- grain, milks his Jersey crosses choice kelp and Redmond salt and once a day, and has been feed- Cliff Hawbaker conditioner. Less scours with ing calves OAD for more than a Hawbaker calves feeding from barrels. Calves are rotated through half- decade. acre paddocks starting at two or three the tubes on occasion if necessary. Compared to when he fed calves OAD feeding months old, although the amount of Since he calves over six to eight twice a day, “The animals perform grazing has been reduced now that weeks starting in March, he runs In Schenevus, New York, John just as well,” Cliff says. When it he’s transitioned to July-August calv- two separate groups for two or three Meuhlenberg’s switch to feeding comes to calf-raising success, he ing. John says sometimes he’ll see a months. Calves are fed high-SCC calves once a day was prompted by thinks getting enough milk is more slump in growth and body condition milk, and the first rinse of the pipeline his move to OAD milking. John milks important than how many times after weaning, but not always. also goes to the calves. a no-grain herd of Jersey/Holstein they’re fed. He used to feed calves twice a day For the first month the calves have crossbreds, and this is his fifth year of He leaves the calves with their for three or four months with a small- milk in the barrel all day so they can feeding calves once a day. mothers for a minimum of four days grain ration. “I would say the calves come back and drink it if they want. Because the calves don’t get before milking the cows out, which grain, they are fed milk for a full five perform just as well as they did in the allows the calves to get as much They work up to two gallons per months. John starts by feeding one other system,” John says. colostrum as they want, when they day at about two or two-and-a-half gallon a day and moves up to two With OAD feeding, John says he want it. He sees that as an important months of age before Cliff starts gallons within the first month as they has fewer problems with scours. He foundation for healthier calves. backing off the milk to one gallon for are ready for it. After three months, thinks that’s because it’s harder for Then he separates the calf and puts the remaining month or so. Some- he slowly tapers the calves back until calves to overeat when they’re young. it in the barn for about a week as they times at the end he’ll even offer milk they finish at about a gallon a day He hasn’t seen other health problems adjust to drinking from a nipple bar- every second day. while forage intakes increase. to speak of. rel. Bottle-feeding gets them started He tried weaning at two months, Calves are fed in the mornings in While John was nervous start- sucking before being transferred to a but without grain the calves did not barrel feeders that can be filled from ing out on the OAD schedule, he 55-gallon drum outfitted with 20 nip- develop enough to thrive, so they are outside the pen. When they are two wouldn’t switch back to twice-daily ples and drop tubes. He’ll replace the fed for at least three months, some- to four weeks old and starting to eat feeding now that he knows how well tubes if needed after a month or six times four. hay in quantity, he starts feeding half it works. weeks. To keep everything clean, he When the calves are old enough, he a gallon of warm water per calf in the “The labor economy of doing it this rinses out the barrel at the beginning evening to keep the barrels clean and way is much better,” he explains. and uses a brush on a wire to clean continued on page 15

Page 12 May 2020

Janet McNally The photo at left shows a headed-out paddock behind what Janet views as a proper post-graze residual. The paddock in the right photo hasn’t been grazed hard enough. Managing the rank growth of summer

By Janet McNally While this did help keep the plants sheep into a relatively small paddock vegetative and more nutritious, it left with all the guard dogs I could muster. Digestibility Years ago I was interested in trying my sheep vulnerable to parasites and Just like that, I was mob-stock mob-stock grazing that uses higher depredation losses. At the time I did grazing. Now I was forced to tackle New leaves: 75% stocking densities and daily moves. not realize that this short period of the rank growth problem. Old leaves: 65% continuous grazing was suppressing What held me back was know- Initially I thought I had to make the Dead leaves: 45% ing that at some point in early June forage yield as well. sheep “eat it down”. I hated to see we would face a tremendous amount The most urgent issue was that al- good, leafy material get trampled into Green stems: 50% of rank growth going to seed and no lowing the sheep to spread out widely the ground, as I thought it was being Dead stems: 35% longer nutritious. in the larger paddocks made it too wasted. easy for predators to ambush lambs. My approach at the time was to I also thought the only way to get Lambs and lactating ewes need a A large wolf pack that was caus- have sheep covering every acre in the plants to produce new vegetative diet that is at least 75% digestible, late-May/early-June, biting each plant ing losses in 1999 forced me to move growth was to bite or cut the stem. which is the percentage often being in an effort to control growth and into a mob-stock grazing method And I thought that a lot of thatch on offered by the top three to five leaves seedheads. overnight. I needed to consolidate all the ground would smother the new of the grass plant. When we force growth. those ewes to eat the lower/older/ Mowing was an obvious answer on dying leaves, they are only getting 45- smooth and level ground, but that op- 65% digestible dry matter. tion was not available to me on many Dry ewes are fine with a diet that Raise healthy calves rocky pastures that were difficult to is only 50% digestible dry matter. So the easy way! even drive an ATV over. I had to solve while it would be OK to force dry this with animals. ewes to clean up some mature for- Mistakes were made age, we should not ask lactating ewes with lambs to consume anything more So I tried a variety of management than the top three to five leaves (and ideas. I found that in attempting to maybe the very tips of the stems). make them eat down the rank forage, This leaves a whole lot of stem and animal productivity suffered, both im- lower leaves unused. What do we do • Maximizes salivation, mediately and later on. with this material if we cannot mow improving digestion My lambing rate went from 190% • it? Feeder designs for every to 145% in just one year. Lamb body operation condition suffered as well, and it took Getting it right • Discourages cross-sucking longer for them to reach slaughter • Decreases labor costs I found that the answer lies in get- weight and finish. ting the stocking density right. If you This table explains why attempt- have enough animals per square foot, ing to graze the surplus was hurting 800 776 7042 | COBURN.COM they will trample the excess growth. production. If you can get it trampled well, it is

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60-Grain Totes $3.25/Gal or 55-Gal Drums $3.50/Gal 60-Grain Organic 55-Gal Drums $5.75/Gal Page 13 possibly even better than mowing, the sheep eating the less nutritious from the top, which means all that and the new growth will come up parts of the plant. I am more rank material below will remain and through the trampled material. However, soon we settled on pad- become inedible. With good tram- While I had thought this trampled docks where all sides equaled the interested in the pling, the new growth will come from feed would be wasted, I discovered length of one-half of a 164-foot roll post-graze residual. the base of the plant and be more more grass grew throughout the of sheep netting, with a new paddock vegetative and nutritious when grazed season and that the pastures were provided each day. again. more drought tolerant. I realized that Available forage dry matter within residual. Was the trampling effect As for the sheep, we want to keep the “waste” was at worst not hurting these paddocks ranged from 2,600 good? Did they eat the top one-third an eye on apparent rumen fill. We anything. to 4,500 lbs. per acre. At 4,000 lbs. of the plant? want to see nice round bellies. The I’ve since learned that the trampled per acre, this translated to 616 lbs. of Obviously, the 66% number men- region between the hip and the ribs is vegetation actually helps feed the soil available forage in an 82-by-82 foot tioned above is more than the top a good place to watch: we do not want microbiota, insulates the soil, and in paddock. third, and maybe I am still removing this region to be hollow. general contributes to healthier soils. Fifty ewes require 410 lbs. of dry too much. But I found that if they If it is hollow, the reason is either The more I trampled, the more bioac- matter/day (8.2 lbs. forage for a 154- were moved too soon, we were not lack of rumen fill or a shortage of tive my soils became, and the faster pound ewe nursing twins). So the getting enough trampling. water. Lack of rumen fill will occur if the trampled material decomposed flock was eating approximately 66% Yet if you need a starting place and you are asking the sheep to eat unpal- and fed the soil. of the available forage. live in the more humid regions of the atable plants. This is a good indicator As I noted above, available forage country, what I described would be a that they have stayed too long in a Figuring the right density definitely varied from field to field. In place to start. If you can measure your paddock. So what is the right stocking den- less fertile fields I sometimes had to forage and calculate your own pad- Lack of water may seem obvious, sity? I don’t know that there is one make these paddocks a little bit larger, dock size, all the better. but I mention this because it is an answer to that question, as there are a important to know that sometimes the and sometimes we had to stay a little Developing your eye lot of “it depends” here. Soil condi- longer than 24 hours to have them eat sheep might need water more than a tions and types of plants, animals and enough of what I felt was nutritious Now let’s develop your grazing new paddock. terrain are going to influence what feed. eye, because at the end of the day it is So this is how I learned to get you do. An 82-by-82 foot paddock (half- going to be observation that matters through that rank forage stage: have Perhaps more important is the an- roll by half-roll) amounts to roughly most of all. them eat the tops and trample the rest. swer to this question: Are you getting 134.5 square feet/day per lactating Keep your eye on two things: Are Eating the tops is the easy part; get- the right result? I will explain what I ewe. One needs to resist the tempta- you getting a good trampling effect, ting a good trampling effect took a bit have done, and hopefully the accom- tion to just use that 134.5 square feet and how do the sheep look? of practice. panying photos will show what I see per ewe and call it good. The photos are the best way to The rewards are more and better as being good trampling effects. Every pasture is going to be dif- show trampling effect, but basically I quality forage later on, plus improved Last summer I had a flock of 50 ferent — even zones within a pasture want to see most of the plant residue soil health that will allow you to grow adult ewes with lambs. There was will be different. bent over and flat to the ground. I do even better forage in the future. some trial and error, such as a pad- So there is no hard and fast rule. not want to see a lot of plants just dock being too big and not enough Rather than going by hard numbers, I topped off but still standing. Janet McNally grazes sheep near trampling happening, or too small and am more interested in the post-graze The plants left standing will regrow Hinckley, Minnesota. Page 14 May 2020 ‘Personal indexes’ make sense for graziers Mainstream approaches don’t account for your own environment

By Greg Palen to evaluate the results because, as Available feedstuffs may not pro- west and seeing what works and what you finally get cows in production vide the nutrient energy density need- doesn’t, I am deeply antagonistic to As you probably know, most to evaluate, their genotype is already ed to meet the additional demands of the idea that we should be seeking the genetic evaluation data in Holsteins defined obsolete by the theory. pregnancy. The grazing cow has the “ideal cow” in our selection. and Jerseys comes from larger-scale, added instinctual burden of watching The same applies to “one size fits confinement TMR feeding with plenty Your “failures” out for predators because she is out- all” genetic selection indexes and of corn, corn silage and oilseeds in the All failures are assumed to be your side and has sometimes strayed from cross-mating formulas. ration. fault, as in some way you have not the security of the herd. Instead we need to understand the Certainly the majority of recent created the ideal environment re- Grazing cows must be tough and environment our cows see, make it university dairy research is focused quired for an “elite DNA” cow. maternal, vigorous and gentle, heat better for them when we can, and then on these systems, and so are the in- It is not your fault. Many of you and cold resistant. They must produce learn to sort them rigorously based vestigations of commercial firms. entered into grazing to reduce your milk persistently through lactation, on how well they perform all needed As an example, look at Zoetis and dependency on feed mills, row crops without peaking so high in early lacta- functions. their “wellness” traits: You need at and costly purchased inputs. tion that they fall into negative energy Your breeding approach must be least 500 confined cows to be in- states that cannot be conquered by fluid as you change and (hopefully) cluded in their “test herds” providing How we’re different supplementation as summer forages improve your cows’ environment, DNA data. Any data from grazing Many graziers are “landlocked” by lignify. which is primarily your paddock for- dairies where forages are the feed- expansion dairies, and have to figure In short, the grazing environment age density and digestibility over a ing focus are thus statistically over- out profitability at their current size is totally unlike that envisioned by rotation season. whelmed, if not ignored. and scale while not receiving the geneticists who are propogating high- What should be the genetic strategy Band-Aid of borrowed money to keep input “designer” cows. for grazing cows, given the genetic Mainstream preferences expanding in search of profitability. So to remain competitive, graziers evaluation data the mainstream indus- The entire genomic selection ap- In general, graziers do not try to will need animals that are economi- try publishes has not really considered proach — even when indexes like create an artificially stable environ- cally efficient under management — our needs? How do we find such a “cheese yield” and “grazing merit” ment. Graziers have not moved their and genetics — that are often quite cow, or breed to replicate her once we are calculated — is based on assump- feeding programs away from the different from what the mainstream have found her? tions that the genetic value of a dairy original species design of the animals industry pushes. What are these ani- cow are based on her response to corn as “grass eaters”, and have largely mals? Your own index and its feeding “partners” as defined avoided going down the road to “hay Back when he was working for a by mainstream nutritional prefer- burners” to “corn burners” to totally There is no ideal different company, a geneticist friend ences. fermented and artificially supplement- After a couple of decades of travel- told me he thought the era of “ranking The cow’s intrinsic value is based ed rations. ing to grazing farms across the Mid- indexes” was close to obsolete. on pounds, with levels set by feed- ing, management and environment. These days her genetic value is based on “gene possession” rather than how Holstein inbreeding rising rapidly that genotype responds through any mating to produce a phenotype that By Joel McNair in 2011, with the rate of increase the limit for avoiding serious prob- actually gives milk. accelerating each year. lems with valuable economic traits The use of genomics in making Holstein inbreeding increases for commercial herds. The “ideal” breeding decisions is accelerating were relatively steady through the He says that while in theory the the rate of inbreeding within the The geneticists define their ideal first decade of the 21st Century, but trend could be reversed, the reality Holstein breed, with dangerous lev- environment, then seek to find the have increased substantially with the is that five bulls now dominate the els of inbreeding likely within four ideal genotype for that environment decline in progeny testing and the breed. years, says Dr. Les Hansen, a dairy under a microscope and a constant onset of genomics, which he said Thus, inbreeding will continue to cattle geneticist at the University of reference to a historical population of has resulted in “‘breeding the best to grow within Holstein genetics, even Minnesota. pedigree sires’ trait patterns. the best as fast as we can’ at a faster if attempts are made to find genes In an article published in Progres- rate than any time in history.” from other countries. They seek to “accelerate” gen- sive Dairy magazine, Hansen noted While saying that while genomics “Holstein genetics from anywhere erations to stay ahead of relentlessly that Council on Dairy Cattle Breed- has led to a rapid increases in Net in the world are almost completely increasing input costs. They wrap it ing (CDBC) information indicates Merit, Hansen adds that Holstein from the same gene pool,” Hansen all in rhetoric that reminds us of high that the increase in Holstein inbreed- inbreeding will soon reach 10%, or says. “Outcross genetics with high school sports cheers. ing last year was four times that seen well above the 6.25% rate viewed as genetic merit is nonexistent.” But they have also lost the patience

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He favored the idea that each dairy- milk, or just gain weight and begin to man would examine his or her farm dry up as soon as she is bred? Does OAD calf feeding environment, management style and she stand calmly to be prepped and marketing choices, and arrive at their milked, or instead possess a difficult continued from page 10 ing of calves, but hasn’t gotten there own “personal” index. (Now that he’s disposition? yet. He feeds good-quality alfalfa hay changed companies, this friend could All of these may all be in your ma- adds water to the barrel when they’re in addition to the pasture, which he no longer get away with saying stuff trix for breeding selection. The cows done with their milk so they have keeps vegetative by clipping. like that out loud.) with passing grades for the majority something to suck on. This keeps As with OAD milking, Cliff says Of course that sounded to me like of this list deserve to be bred back for them from sucking each other and OAD calf feeding requires manage- what was always called “matrix selec- replacements. also cleans out the milk tubes. ment and oversight rather than just tion” in which the dairy person had a The odd cow that meets all the After a week in the well-ventilated dumping milk to the calves and ignor- list of traits for which he/she wanted requirements on the list deserves to be barn, for the next week the calves ing them the rest of the day. considered for “brood mare” status. If move out to a three-sided, 12- by 20- each bull to be above average. He checks them frequently, talks she has a healthy bull calf, raise him foot shed with a hog panel corral. Mainstream geneticists have long to them, and keeps a close watch to for cleanup use or as a future herdsire Then, when they’re full after drink- hated this idea. In the articles extol- make sure they’re all getting their fair for you or your neighbor. ing their milk (so they don’t run as ling indexing, matrix selection has share of milk. long been universally denounced by much), he lets them out to the two- Cliff says he has seen very few the vanguard of ranking index apolo- Adapting to the environment strand electric wire paddock for the problems with scours, and that the gists. The key idea in all this is that a suc- first time. calves are generally healthy. Yet those seeking to create entire cessful grass cow must adapt to the They stay in that grassy paddock He likes how the one-time feeding herds of A2A2, BB (cheese yield), environment she faces, which is your until weaning, with the acreage ex- polled or successful no-grain milk place, rocks and all. Forget “ideal”, panded as the year progresses. Cliff stretches their gut, and thinks it helps cows — as well as combinations of as we cannot afford to build ideal and would like to do more rotational graz- them grow well as they mature. these attributes — clearly are gravitat- keep rebuilding it to match the chang- ing to (or must soon go to) the much- ing shape of the genetically ideal cow. Production trends also hurting dairy Think instead about a profitable derided “matrix” approach to sire The current U.S. dairy crisis was USDA said cheese stocks as of cow — a cow that can succeed from selection. exacerbated by a flood of milk at the March 31 were down 0.8% from a the best you can do within the envi- Index ranking, developed as it was beginning of the spring flush, accord- year earlier. However, cheese inven- ronmental limitations you have. These under USDA funding via land-grant ing USDA estimates. tories have been building rapidly in limitations will differ from year to universities, has proven itself as a tool The department said March produc- recent weeks, and industry reports year. of commodity milk production. Yet tion totaled 19.26 billion lbs., up 2.2% indicate that warehouses are filling. Since each year is different, we the future for all but the most remote from March 2019. The U.S. milking Butter inventories were 15% need a “longevity” cow — one that mega-dairies is to get out of com- herd rose to a 19-month high of 9.38 higher at the end of March compared keeps succeeding as she ages into modity production, and into definably million cows, up 47,000 from the pre- to same time in 2019, and were the a graceful maturity of optimal pro- “different” milk product production as vious March. While dairy farms were highest March 31 number since 1993. duction capacity, and that remains fast as possible. culling heavily, recent shutdowns at Tremendous volumes of cream were competitive with the newest heifers. slaughter plants may cause delays in being skimmed in recent weeks due to Learning to evaluate One with a proven ability to survive reducing herds. increased fluid milk demand. To do this, as graziers we must the cold/wet year, the hot/dry year, learn to evaluate. This does not have the low milk price/corner-cutting to be complicated, nor can it be given year, the “somebody-messed-up-the- the limits on your time. Design a vacuum” year. matrix of observable traits defined by Oldest, not youngest your baseline of what is acceptable. Are heifers growthy enough to This is what longevity as a breed- breed on time and then calve without ing selection trait really means. Save extraordinary assistance in the desired your cleanup bulls from the oldest season? Does she have the instinct to survivor cows, not from the unproven lick her calf to life and nurse it? fancy young heifer with high genomic numbers being trumpeted by the Does she come to milk, and eat mainstream. vigorously enough to keep milking There are proven ways to go about (which might be prefaced by asking if this process of genetic selection for she can walk in a sturdy way)? your farm. Next month I will discuss Does body condition avoid exces- a few of them and offer my opinion of sive depletion through the season? their strengths and weaknesses. Does she cycle back quickly enough to be ready to rebreed in the same Greg Palen is an analyzer with aAa season every year? Dairy Cattle Breeding Guide based in Does she have the metabolism to Ovid, Michigan.



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  Page 16 May 2020

Sullivan joins Grazing Apprenticeship

Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship Tomandl, III. “We’re very excited to (DGA) announces that Angie Sullivan bring Angie onto the team.” Pasture walk has joined its staff as Apprenticeship Sullivan has 20 years of experience Director. in agriculture, having worked for the coming up? Sullivan will be overseeing daily Wisconsin Department of Agricul- operations and coordinating with ture Trade and Consumer Protection We’re happy to DGA’s administrative partners to de- (DATCP) and the Midwest Organic Call 608-455-3311 liver the innovative work-based train- & Sustainable Education Service send copies of or e-mail us at: ing program to Master Dairy Graziers (MOSES), among other positions. Graze to your [email protected] Be sure to tell us how many you need. and Apprentices in 15 states. Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship gathering. “As the DGA network grows, we (DGA), is a National Apprenticeship need someone who is an excellent registered with the U.S. Department communicator and who understands of Labor-Employment and Training farming from every angle to best Administration. Find out more at Classified Rates: Minimum charge $15.00 for 20 words. Additional words serve our participants,” says Joseph https://www.dga-national.org/ Classifieds 80 cents/word. Call 608-455-3311.

Also available at April 2018: A Minnesota couple does what it takes to improve soil health. Advisors www.grazeonline.com describe their perfect cow. How cows help the environment. Getting a grip on grassfed dairy costs. How to get disruptive with your grazing. Time to take raw milk seriously. May 2018: Small New England dairy making a go of processing. Advisors get cows bred. back issues Thoughts on marketing your own milk. Starting a grazing farm from scratch. Establishing forages in a newly opened woodlot. Organic forum: dealing with flies. Don’t clip!

January 2016: Cow comfort key to NY dairy’s no-grain milk success. Measuring financial June-July 2018: Gabe Brown and Allen Williams on how to avoid cover crop failures. progress on the grass farm. To make progress, disrupt your grazing comfort zone. Sheep Cover crops for sheep grazing. Advisors manage summer pasture. Marketing milk as adding to land value. Putting some numbers to cover crops. Stock need a good leader. burgers, butter and pork. Grassfed hopes rising in the Northeast.

February 2016: Pooling resources to start an organic dairy. Tips for transitioning to August-September 2018: Can pigs be finished without grain? Managing late-season 100% grassfed dairy. Balancing soils and milk production with alternative crops. Blue-sky pasture. Starting from scratch: buying beef cows. Cover crop success stories. Grassfed calf housing. Good grazing requires good handling. Organic mistakes and successes. organic forum: addressing lower prices. Managing vegetation in silvopasture.

March 2016: Building a resilient, 100% grassfed dairy. How small farms can thrive. Ani- October 2018: A cash grain farmer moves to no-grain dairy. Advisors discuss what they mal welfare concerns benefit graziers. Moving cow-calf pairs on pasture. Van Amburghs feed, and why. Selling pasture butter. Creating shade on pastures. How one sheep gra- stick close to nature in raising grassfed dairy calves. Making resources work for you. zier fights parasites. Run the numbers before reducing grain feeding for pastured pigs.

June-July 2016: Surprises along the path to no-grain. Why the advisors feed grain. Allen November 2018: Building a grassfed genetic base. Advisors tell how they raise replace- Williams offers proof for soil health benefits. How to make a Bud Box crowd pen work. ment heifers. Grassfed Alliance to promote “authentic” milk and meats. What if “local” How one farm prices its grassfed beef. Grazing strategies for the organic, no-grain dairy. isn’t making enough money? Grassfed organic forum: Dealing with weird weather. August-September 2016: On-farm ice cream plant overcoming obstacles. All U.S. beef December 2018: Why a cheesemaker values grazing. Wet weather forces grazing could be finished on grass. Keeping track of pasture. Think convenience in marketing ef- changes for an Ohio dairyman. Getting minerals into cows. Tackling cobalt deficiency in forts. Should newborn lambs be tagged? Adding up the costs of growing grassfed beef. sheep. Microbes mine soil minerals. Study showed special qualities of pasture milk. A hybrid grazing dairy calculates most profitable pasture intake. Advisors October 2016: Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship offers opportunities to a new generation. A January 2019: little grazing helps a big confinement dairy. Analyzing fodder sprouting. Winter feed tips on dealing with tough times. Sheep grazing lessons learned. Restoring land with pigs. for no-grain dairy cows. Providing evidence for the benefits of sward diversity. New soil tests offer interesing insights. Grassfed organic forum: our toughest challenges. This locker plant invites the public to visit. Feeding forages with butterfat November 2016: Grass dairy rebuilds with help from friends. Getting paid to graze February 2019: goats. Graziers must record what we’re doing for future generations. Farm store tips in mind. A policy plan with family-scale farmers in mind. “Living barns” provide low-cost from Seven Sons Farms. Farm policy insanity. A different way to a better farm policy. winter shelter. Grass farmers need to define grassfed dairy. We need each other. January 2017: Small and large dairies adapting to changing markets. Gabe Brown’s soil April 2019: A specialty cheese maker values great grazing. The farming side of a direct- regeneration proof. Challenging residual gospel during a drought. Find flies before they market business. Getting water to pastures. How to build a regenerative movement. find you. Pigs stack well with a grassfed beef operation. Raising calves without grain. Internet marketing examples. Soil health and the health of the people. February 2017: A Missouri dairy where grass is king. We can build soils faster than May 2019: One grazier’s robotic milking report. The fallacy of “feeding the world”. Adding conventional wisdom says. Fighting pasture flies. A holistic grazing plan. Dealing with the legumes to pastures. How to have pigs improve soils. Grassfed organic dairy challenges. chaos of a diverse farm. No-stress weaning starts long before the actual event. Not all grassfed beef is created equal. Farm programs for the soil and the people. August-September 2019: Grass-based dairy producers moving ahead. Advisors talk March 2017: Dairy outwintering system isn’t pretty, but it works. Advisors on managing soil fertility strategies. What’s with those MUN readings? Unintended consequences. the spring growth flush. Grazing lessons learned. Selecting sheep for parasite resis- Fake meat, big money. Hue Karreman on organic fly control. Managing in wet weather. tance. Rebuilding soils. No-stress weaning. Organic forum: avoiding skinny cows. October 2019: Grazing as an organic soil health tool. More on soil fertility strategies. Are Ben Simmons stacks grassfed enterprises in the Deep South. Advisors on April 2017: micro-dairies the answer? Mob vs. rotational grazing in the Northeast. Regenerating soils their use of grazing annuals. What to look for in a grassfed dairy cow. Soil healh indica- with cattle and pig grazing. Allen Williams: more unintended consequences. tors you can see. Perennial pastures as the goal. Embrace those crazy consumers! November 2019: Micro-dairies look to get better, not bigger. To vaccinate or not. Ques- May 2017: Charles Opitz and Ted Miller re-invent dairy grazing in Louisiana. Advisors tioning grazing research. In search of low-cost grazing. Dealing with rain and cold during deal with heat stress. Watch mineral intake in no- and low-grain rations. How to profit lambing season. The twin crises of farm people and their land. from consumer tendencies. Explaining fatty acids. Grassfed soil fertility strategies. December 2019: Grazing works better than plowing for PA dairy. Assessing a tough June-July 2017: Deep South graziers building soil health. Advisors on establishing pas- year. Telling the real story about fake meats. Putting grazing at the forefront of value- ture. Stockmanship: getting problem animals going. How to produce grassfed lamb, part added. Finishing lambs when the rain won’t stop. Getting cattle out of the mud. one. Start with the head when looking for a grazing cow. Tapping the guilt market. January 2020: Ohio dairy grazier says no-grain and once-daily milking work well togeth- August-September 2017: Grassfed dairy pioneers look to future. Handling dry weather. er. Putting numbers to once-daily milking. Advisors on improving milk quality. Improving a In cattle breeding, let form follow function. Saving organic dairy from itself. Leaving linear pastured pig operation. Avoiding overgrazing. Returning livestock and people to the land. thinking behind. Finishing lambs on grazed forages. Mineral programs for no-grain dairy. February 2020: Doing what it takes to launch a grass dairy. Resilience for difficult times. October 2017: Ohio company turning cropland into organic dairy pastures. Advisors Boosting forage productivity in a no-grain dairy. More thoughts on once-daily milking. Al- deal with dry weather. Water’s role in the carbon cycle. Cobalt often overlooked in sheep len Williams: health is for the living. Telling the public about how we’re different. pastures. What’s new in perennial grazing forages. In mating, treat cows as individuals. March 2020: Fall calving and no-grain milk production. Cow comfort affects no-grain November 2017: Midwestern farmers are planting trees in their pastures. Fake meat is success. Advisors control pasture weeds. Janet McNally likes her new sheep handling going nowhere. What’s with those “happy lines” on cows? Retrofit milking parlors revis- system. Allen Williams: Returning our land to what it was. Managing swards for decades. ited. Grassfed organic forum: keeping good forages in front of no-grain cows. Organics and grazing keep a farm in the family. Advisors say why they aren’t December 2017: Schlatters keep pace with changing direct-market situation. What farm April 2020: owners need to know about motivating employees. Advisors: drying off and freshening going no-grain. Grassfed/organic dairy forum returns. Cow sidewalks work for these cows. The value of livability PTAs. Exploring soil frontiers. Community marketing. dairy graziers. The downsides of modern cattle breeding. Waiting for others to change. January 2018: Paying off the mortgage with no-grain dairy. Advisors on raising calves. Dairy heifer grazing economics. Soils grow up. Money talks in hiring. Grassfed organic forum: what makes a good dairy cow. How to graze amid trees. Relationship marketing. Send $5 U.S. for each issue to: February 2018: Grassfed beef co-op success, and lack of success. Gabe Brown on Please specify issues being improving your degraded resource. Grazing math for healthy soils and wallets. Janet requested McNally: which sheep work best on pasture? Ensuring grassfed dairy’s future. P.O. Box 48 Belleville, WI 53508 March 2018: Selecting cows for a 14,000-lb. no-grain herd. Advisors on manure han- See www.grazeonline.com for sample articles. dling. The real benefits of diversity. McNally’s picks for pasture-based lamb production. Price includes postage! Thinning a woodlot for pasture. Organic cow treatment. Gabe Brown’s better soil test. The Marketplace

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Schools, publications

Maybe you don’t want a large Wisconsin School for Beginning ad, but you don’t like how Dairy and Livestock Farmers smaller ads get lost in the clutter of some other publications. We’re here to help you start farming Try our most affordable display Classes available in person and advertising option: at your own pace online Seminars led by experienced The graziers Marketplace www.wsbdf.wisc.edu Call 608-455-3311 for details. Contact Director Nadia Alber at 608-265-6437 or [email protected] Page 18 May 2020 Conversations with the land Our sales are booming, but what of the future?

By Jim Van Der Pol fact that everyone was buying more. structions reminding everyone of the to make an unscheduled run into the This was also true of our farm store finer points for keeping their distance. Twin Cities with more product on Sat- Today is April 14, and I will try to customers, who came more often and We have hand sanitizer everywhere urday the 18th, which is far ahead of tell you how our family’s farm and bought more each time. And for the in the building, and LeeAnn regularly our next regularly scheduled delivery meat company, Pastures A Plenty, is past month it is a regular occurrence makes the rounds with an antiviral, on May 7. This is because we have navigating our trip to the new normal, that a car coming up the driveway treating the door handles and other been busy again with orders — many whatever that turns out to be. zips past the meats building and objects likely to be handled by cus- large, and many from people we do And because whatever I write here comes all the way to the farm yard, a tomers — or by any of us, for that not know. is likely to be out of date by the time sure sign of someone new coming to matter. Maybe this is just a continuation you read it, I will try to be more care- buy. When the delivery of the run on product that started in ful than usual to tie things to dates My best estimate is that went on April 2, cus- mid-March. But perhaps what’s driv- and events. our store sales are up one- tomers had been noti- ing the demand is the pandemic and On March 15 our governor here in third over the past month fied that they should the resulting closure of two large and Minnesota closed the schools. The and a half. Drive-up retail remain in their cars at somewhat local hog slaughter plants next day he issued the state’s first and route retail have the stops and call the — one a Smithfield facility in Sioux (since renewed) three-week “shel- doubled. Nearly everyone truck by cell phone, Falls, South Dakota, the other a Tyson ter in place” directive, which was is buying more. and that we would plant at Columbus Junction in south- coupled with orders for restaurants, Like virtually every- bring their orders and east Iowa. diners, coffee shops and other non- one else, we needed to place them in their The Smithfield plant employs essential businesses to close. But the take precautions, some of trunks. A fair number 3,700 people, of which 300 are sick toilet paper (huh?!) had started disap- which were made more of people complied as of this writing. Tyson in Columbus pearing from grocery shelves ahead of difficult by the increase of with that instruction, Junction employs 1,400 and has 152 that time. traffic on the farm and the increased but some still came to the truck and reported sick. Louisa County, where number of people contacting our stood around visiting. Tyson is located, is small in popula- Everything changed drivers, both in meat delivery and in I sympathize with those who tion, has no hospital, and has a coro- And it was in mid-March when trucking hogs and cattle. came forward. How can we live long navirus rate higher than that in New we started noticing a distinct uptrend without visiting? A good bit of our York. This is something we should all in both our company’s grocery store Safety first business is based upon the idea that notice, especially those who think that orders and our farm store drive-up We stocked up on rubber gloves. people like us and we like them. rural living means we are immune. business. A supply of face masks is always on We also set up a small table upon As a nation we are going to need to In the four following weeks, we hand for when we work in the barn which we could set the orders for take a very good look at agricultural sent 50% more hogs to slaughter chopping straw and cleaning pens, so customers who came to the truck. We processing. There is too much abuse each week. In two of those weeks we we were all right there. practiced social distancing at the de- there. There is a reason why corona- needed to negotiate with the inspector My wife, LeeAnn, set to work sew- livery, and regularly wiped down the virus outbreaks in the Midwest are oc- to move slaughter a day earlier to help ing homemade models that are at least truck and access doors. You do what curring in huge processing plants, and us keep ahead of the orders. as effective, more attractive and smell you can. it is closely related to the news that This is a startling event, given better. Sewing is one of her survival We needed to try making ourselves the virus hits harder and more often in that over the years our business has skills that is coming in handy. as safe as possible. With spring com- those with skins darker than white. generally been stable and predictable Daughter-in-law Cindy told farm ing we are under a good deal of stress Close contact in a slaughterhouse between the holidays and the start of store customers when they called that on the farm, and the worry about is pretty much unavoidable. But as summer. their orders would be brought out to coronavirus just adds to it. Stress low- a small marketer, I am sick and tired People were stocking up for a their cars. LeeAnn set up the meats ers immune response. of regulators winking at these huge time, both with our store accounts building to guide those customers LeeAnn and I are in the higher risk establishments, enabling them to mis- and our own retail business. We had a who did come through the front door, group due to age. We have ourselves treat and intimidate help, pay bottom regular frozen meats delivery into the where upon entry they would see a pretty well isolated on the farm, and I wages and offload far too much of Twin Cities, serving our buying club signboard blocking their way back can tell you this is already getting old! their real cost onto the government. customers, scheduled for April 2. That to the freezers and scale area. We I am beginning to miss the old know- It is hard for me to understand why truck went loaded with nearly twice have some customers who are in the it-alls who hang around the diner in my taxes should support outfits that as much product as usual, with the habit of following us around, and we town, if you can believe that. undercut my prices by underpaying increase due to orders from new and needed to break them of the habit. It looks like we are getting into help while throwing the costs onto the irregular customers, and also to the On the sign board we posted in- stage two here. Today we decided taxpayer.

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Meanwhile, we worry about the nearly guaranteed shutdowns of our No-grain producer survey finds own small processing companies 9,305 lbs./cow milk average should they be traced to a disease outbreak. No-grain dairy farmers who 90% of total forage needs during the answered a recent survey reported grazing season. Musing on the future producing an average of 9,305 lbs. Just 15% reported drying off their The trouble is, I have an old of milk per cow, with average but- herd at some point of the year, and farmer’s mind. This means I cannot terfat of 4.39% and protein averaging 10% said they milk once a day. These relax in good times, because I know 3.33%. producers feed milk to calves for an the next bad time is right around the around them? And how many of Conducted with USDA funding by average of 4.9 months. Some 54% re- corner. those rebels against the system will the universities of Vermont and New ported milking crossbred cattle, 22% Restaurants are closed, which be young people — people who have Hampshire along with Sarah Flack milk primarily Holsteins, while 17% won’t bother the chains, but will been abused by the student loan mess Consulting, the survey answered by concentrate on Jerseys. and the lack of opportunity in our devastate the independents that buy 164 farmers indicated an average of More than 60% of the survey re- economy? directly from farmers. Small gro- 219 acres of owned and leased crop- spondents identified as part of a Plain The kind of country and world we cery stores where we do most of our land and pasture, with an average of community. Respondents farm in 16 will have coming out of this is very wholesale trade have been under pres- 49 cows milked. states ranging from New Hampshire likely to be quite different from what sure and stress for some years from Nearly 64% of these farmers re- to Oregon, with New York milk pro- we had coming in. Will the huge and the likes of Whole Foods (Amazon) ported purchasing about 38% of their ducers providing at least half of the powerful be even more powerful, and Trader Joe’s, and it does not take forage needs each year. responses. possessing even the control of the any extraordinary imagination to see a More than two-thirds of these The research group has launched an vaccines necessary to survive in a massive consolidation in that busi- producers grow only perennial forage effort to create financial and produc- ness. The only thing that survives is world plagued by one pandemic after another? crops. They reported grazing their tion benchmarks for no-grain dairy. If the name on the door, while the food milking herds an average of 197 days you would like to participate, contact all comes from the commodity trade. Or will the future begin to belong to those who can work with hands and per year, with about 40% of the farm- Heather Darby at 802-524-6501 or How many of our direct retail minds to limit the damage they do, ers saying pasture provides more than [email protected] customers, many of whom cook and while being perceptive enough to link garden and take care of themselves their lives to the people near them? Pasture pH recommendations offered in other old-fashioned ways, will We appear to be at a tipping point. become accustomed to the Amazon The correct soil pH for your forage 5.5-6.0: tall fescue, reed canarygrass, Any actions we take or changes we Smile delivery? species is essential for germination, make now are apt to reverberate into redtop, birdsfoot trefoil, crownvetch Then again, how many others, stand longevity and optimal yields, the future. Any farm or business that 6.0-6.5: Kentucky bluegrass, or- many of whom cannot afford Ama- notes Penn State Extension. wants to survive will need to be light chardgrass, smooth bromegrass, zon, will come out of the pandemic According to Penn State forage on its feet. timothy, ladino clover, alsike clover, deeply suspicious of the government specialist Marvin Hall, here are the red clover and the corporate structure, and learn Jim Van Der Pol grazes and markets best pH ranges for common grasses instead to trust those they see right from his farm near Kerkhoven, MN. and legumes in managed pastures: 6.5-7.0: alfalfa, sweet clover

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