A32-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 17, 2000
(Continued from Pago A 1)
would eat too much moisture in
the grass. You’re either going to
get a cow that milks a lot, but
gets real thin and has health
problems or she will go off milk
and not be profitable.”
Wolfe has started to use New
Zealand Holstein genetics,
which are more conducive to
grazing. The New Zealand cows
average 900 pounds in weight
compared to U.S. Holsteins,
which average 1,200 pounds.
“The main method of dairy
ing in New Zealand is seasonal
grazing,” said Wolfe. “So the
cows run higher components.
You’ve also got a smaller cow
that will be more efficient on
grass.”
Wolfe’s herd is seasonal with
cows freshening from February
through April. “It’s easier to
manage,” said Wolfe. “We only
have two groups of heifers be
cause they’re all born during the
same time of year. We also dry
all of our cows off right before
Christmas.”
When he originally moved
onto the farm, Wolfe worked
with a nutrition consultant to
balance the pastures for grazing.
Currently he is growing peren
nial rye grass, fescue, orchard
grass, grazing timothy, grazing
alfalfa, matua brome grass, and
one paddock of chickory.
Wolfe has set up 18 paddocks
on his farm and uses portable
fence to rotate the cattle. The
paddocks range in acreage with
the largest ones being 14 to 16
acres. However, the cows only
feed on one acre at a time. A
water line with a riser every 300
feet provides water to every pad
dock.
“We give the cows fresh grass
three times a day,” said Wolfe.
“They’re also fed five pounds of
grain in the barnyard before
each milking.”
The cows are kept on pasture
year round and do not have
access to the barn. During the
hot summer months with tem
peratures above 90 degrees,
Wolfe will bring the cows to the
barnyard a couple of hours
before milking to run sprinklers
over them.
“During the summer when
we’re feeding alfalfa, we will let
them graze on the alfalfa during
the daytime and then move
them to grass pasture in the
night,” said Wolfe. “Otherwise,
we put the cows on whatever’s
available.”
When pastures are thin,
Wolfe will supplement with
baleage. This spring he baled 20
acres of first cutting hay, which
will be incorporated into the
ar . e healthier on grass, according to Jeff Wolfe. His
avemaf festive and reproductive problems than
breaks 6 herdS ‘ He aBO has few cases of mastitis out-
Grazing Lowers Capital Investment
grazing program this summer
for pasture slow down. He also
put out 25 acres of sundane
grass for summer pasture.
Pastures are replaced every 10
years. During the months he
isn’t milking, Wolfe works at
Mason Dixon dairy farm.
Wolfe overwinters his cows
outside. He normally puts the
cows out in a 10-acre plot that
needs replaced. The cows are fed
round bales and can tear up the
pasture, getting it ready to re
plant in the spring.
One way Wolfe keeps his cap
ital investment low is by hiring
custom work. He owns a tractor
loader, Areway aerator, and
disk mower.
“When I put seed out, I have
to hire a person to drill for me,”
said Wolfe. “I also hire someone
to make the baleage and haul
manure for me.”
Wolfe rents the property from
Tom Murren, a retired dairy
farmer. He first started renting
in 1996 and came out the fall
before he moved in the cows to
plant 33 acres of rye. One week
before he moved the cows, he set
up the fences.
“I spent a couple years prior
to renting the farm learning as
much as I could about grazing,”
he said. “I went on Franklin
County pasture walks and went
to the Lancaster County grazing
conference.”
Before renting his own farm,
Wolfe worked on Mains Dairy
Farm in Newburg. The 300-cow
dairy farm gave Wolfe the op
portunity to build up his herd
before he left. By the spring of
1996, Wolfe had 25 cows in the
Mains herd.
“I did sell 10 of my cows back
to the Mains farm because their
dates were off,” said Wolfe. “I
went seasonal right from the
start. The cows I bought were all
late fall to early spring calvers
that I held over to calve in the
late spring.”
When he moved onto the
farm, he converted the tie-stall
barn into a double-four flatbed
milking parlor. The Wolfes milk
twice a day and average 13,258
pounds per cow with 3.4 percent
protein and four percent fat.
One of the benefits of rota
tional grazing is improved herd
health. According to Wolfe, he
has very few mastitis outbreaks
or displaced abomasums. The
somatic cell count averages
about 180,000.
“We do have to cull for cows
that don’t make the breeding
window,” said Wolfe. “So the
herd’s average age is at about
three lactations. About one
third of our herd is made up of
first-calf heifers. ’ ’
Over the years, Wolfe has
learned from his mistakes. The
first spring he grazed, he was
feeding high amounts of grain.
“We had one cow get a
twisted stomach and had a few
cases of milking fever,” said
Wolfe. “But it’s a learning
curve.”
Jeffs wife Sandy helps milk
in the evenings and drives
school bus. Their son Jason is 11
years old and has a Jersey calf in
the 4-H dairy club.
Wolfe came from an Illinois
farm where they milked 40 head
of registered Brown Swiss. He
moved east in 1985 to work for
Mason Dixon Farms. His
younger brother is now taking
over his family’s farm in Illinois
and is converting the dairy to
grazing.
In a New York Dairy Farm
Business Summary, grazing
dairy herds netted $l2B more
per cow per year than herds that
didn’t graze.
According to Dr. Lawrence
Muller, professor of dairy &
animal science at Penn State,
that figure is in line with other
grazing studies conducted over
the past eight years. Compiling
the 20 studies, Muller and his
colleagues found that grazing
herds averaged $l5O per cow per
year in income above conventi
onal herds.
Some of that increase in net
income is due to lower feed
costs, lower vet bills, and im
proved herd health. In the New
York summary, grazing herds
averaged $5O to 100 less in
annual purchased feed costs and
$2O less in veterinarian ex
penses.
“You do have consider the
Survey: Consumers Don’t Know
Most Dairy Farms Are Family-Owned
ROSEMONT, 11. A strik
ing example of the gap between
American consumer knowledge
and the realities of dairy farm
ing, a recent dairy industry
survey indicates a majority of
U.S. consumers believes most
dairy farms are not owned by
farmers and their families, ac
cording to Linda Eatherton, vice
president of industry relations
for Dairy Management Inc.™
(DMI).
In a random nationwide
survey by Roper Starch World
wide, consumers were asked to
identify who they think owns
more than 90 percent of dairy
farms in the United States.
Thirty percent said agricultural
ly-related corporations own
dairy farms, while another 21
percent said other business cor
porations or food manufactur
ers. About ten percent said the
government owns them.
In reality, according to Eath
erton, U.S. Department of Agri
culture data indicates families
own and operate more than 99
percent of all U.S. dairy farms.
“This misperception about
who produces our nation’s milk
is just one example showing the
Converting the tie stall barn to a double-four milking
parlor, Wolfe was able to begin milking his herd with very
low start-up costs.
Dairy Grazing
Dollar And Sense
cost of pasture,’’ said Muller.
“We figure that pasture is about
three cents per pound of dry
matter or $6O per ton of dry
matter.” That figure includes
land charges, fertilizer costs,
fencing, water systems, and
other expenses.
Annual milk production for
grazing herds is slightly lower
than in conventional herds. In
the New York summary, the
grazing herds averaged 17,600
pounds per cow per year com
pared to 18,200 pounds in con
ventional herds.
“That’s a little bit less of a dif
ference than what we’ve seen
here,” said Muller.
The benefits that Muller sees
in grazing include higher profits,
less labor, and improved herd
health.
“One thing we’re seeing in
Pennsylvania and New York is
that the herds are getting
larger,” said Muller. “But cull
vast gap between consumer be
liefs and the realities of dairy
fanning,” she said. “As more
consumers become further re
moved from production agricul
ture, the gap continues to
widen.”
DMI and the regional dairy
organizations, American Dairy
Association/Dairy Council
Middle Atlantic and Pennsylva
nia Dairy Promotion Program,
have partnered with other dairy
industry groups to develop a
long-term education program to
address and correct such con
sumer misperceptions.
“The dairy industry is united
to reach misinformed consumers
with factual information on a
wide range of dairy farming
rates in grazing herds still aver
age about 23 percent compared
to the industry standard of 30
percent.”
Muller recommends that any
farmers interested in grazing
take the time to learn everything
that they can before they get
started. “Go visit other grazers
who are successful and making
a profit. Attend meetings and
collect all the data you can. ’ ’
According to Muller, not ev
eryone is successful at grazing.
“It’s a completely different type
of management than with non
grazing herds,” he said. “It
could take two to three years to
learn what it takes.”
“The most important thing to
learn is pasture management,”
said Muller. “You need to have
your pasture feedbunk full,
which means you need to have
adequate intake for your cows.
It takes daily management.”
issues,” said Eatherton.
Farmer-funded education ef
forts allow the dairy industry to
explain its story, she said. “Con
sumers can now begin learning
the facts about herd health mea
sures dairy farmers practice
daily, our high safety standards
that ensure quality dairy prod
ucts, and environmental stew
ardship programs being
developed across the country.”
These consumer awareness
programs also benefit dairy
farmers, Eatherton said. “The
more confident the public is
about how milk is produced, the
more confident they’ll be in se
lecting dairy products off the
shelves at their local supermar
ket.”
month