-Foraging Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 13, 2002 184 Flexible Management (Continued from Page 1) for the Martins was that heif ers mature rapidly on the rye grass, freshening under 19 months of age and delivering good-sized calves. In fact, heifers should have limited access to the ryegrass they are in danger of get ting fat from it, Martin said. With the goal of reducing calf size for the earlier calv ings, Martin had used a Jersey bull on several heifers that calved this spring, and found the calves still pushing 90-pound birth weights. The heifers gave birth, however, without significant trouble and have joined the milking herd with gusto. This spring, the Martins grazed the herd into June, and also harvested three cuttings of ryegrass to fill the trench for winter feed. Intervals be tween cuttings are 18-20 days. During the spring growth flush, the herd can only keep up with grazing a portion of the 45 acres of ryegrass. In June, the Martins lightly till the ryegrass ground in preparation for com, which is planted densely at 45,000 plants to the acre. “It is my summertime grass,” Martin said of the Holstein/Jersey crossbred calves will go on pas ture at three months of age on the Martin farm. Myron Martin checks first-calf heifers that freshened this spring at less than 19 months of age after grazing annual ryegrass. com. He exploits the fact that com grows best during the drier months of summer when other types of grass decline. This is a way of maximizing the use of the land. The dense com stand reduces ear size, but Martin said it is primarily the forage he wants. He also noted, in spite of smaller ear sizes, the com produces more ears. “(The com) ends up with a whole lot more leaves,” he said. “The ear size is down, but you get twice as many ears.” While the com grows dur ing the hot summer months, the Martins tend to keep the cows in the freestall bam, switching back to a feeding program that consists mostly of TMR, rather than turning the cows out in the heat to pick through pastures that are less than lush. “We don’t like to make cows eat grass,” Martin said. “We like to see them want to eat it.” After chopping the com, the fields are seeded back into ryegrass in September. The herd can then graze intensive ly through the late fall. After last year’s droughty summer, a mid-November rain grew the ryegrass to 10-12 inches On a hot day on Myron Martin’s farm, heifers graze in the foreground as milk ing cows help themselves to TMR in the comfort of the freestall bam. tall, allowing the herd to graze past Christmas. At that point, young heifers were turned in and continued grazing into January, Martin said. After being dormant for several months, the ryegrass grows aggressively again in the spring, requiring attentive and flexible management to harvest the most feed value most efficiently. Martin said one mistake he made in the process of starting the grazing operation was in stalling permanent paddock fencing in the pastures. With much of grazing management depending on variable condi tions, the switch to easily moved temporary fencing has greatly increased the ability to give cows what they need on a day-to-day basis, he said. Other forages grown on the farm include Alice clover, per ennial ryegrass, orchardgrass, and alfalfa. These are also used for either grazing or chopping, depending on the time of year and conditions. The TMR mix includes Marshall ryegrass and/or al falfa, com silage, pressed brewer’s grain, fine ground com, cotton seed, and miner als. During non-grazing sea son, the mix also includes soy bean meal. Combining grazing with traditional TMR feeding is a balancing act that requires flexibility and an open mind, according to Martin. He attri- iim «i inu m m m 111 m>:i>< i n i; li 111 mim i) <m e 111 msmim ii m m m 11 1 “I believe I do everything except plant com,” said Glendolyn Martin, 14. Here he feeds TMR to the milking herd. butes a good deal of that atti tude to his father, Glenn Mar tin, who was the first farmer in the area to own a no-till com planter. “The whole time, I’m learn ing more and more about the cows,” Myron said. “I’m not close-minded to anything else. I don’t want to get stuck here.” Introducing grazing into the operation has “really made things economical” without requiring anyone in the family to “work day and night,” he said. With seven children being home-schooled on the farm, plus the care of two ad ditional foster children, ages 3 and 1, time management is important. Although, “you still have to be here twice a day,” for milk ing, Janet Martin said the new freestall bam, which has elim inated the daily chore of scraping manure, has freed up a lot of time, enabling her hus band to be the main school teacher in the home. Oldest daughter, Yolanda, has also taken over a lot of the teach ing responsibilities. In Myron Martin’s view, it all adds up to the likelihood of being able to pass on a thriv ing dairy business to the next generation. It is also a cause for gratitude. “I thank God that I can make a living fanning,” he said. The Martins will open their farm to guests during two grazing walks scheduled this year: Aug. 29 and Dec. 5. To learn more, reach Myron at (301) 432-2974, or call Don Schwartz, Washington C.o. ex tension, at (301) 791-1304. Growth of Grazing In Maryland According to Schwartz, about 30 Maryland dairy farmers have converted to one of two general types of grass based operations in the past five years. These include the “New Zealand” style graziers who have converted all of their cro pland into perennial grasses and legumes, limit the feeding of grain, and may opt to milk only on a seasonal basis. The others are referred to as “European” type graziers who complement TMR ra tions with the grazing of an nual or perennial forages. The Martin dairy is a prime exam ple of this type of operation. A five-year financial sum mary (1996-2000) of 33 Mary land dairy farms showed the average net profit for 23 con ventional dairy farms was $387 per cow while 10 dairy graziers averaged $582 per cow. Year-end data for 2000 showed early innovators of both grazing systems netted more than $l,lOO per cow, according to Schwartz. These systems provide a viable alter native to conventional dairy production by increasing prof itability and sustainability in small dairy farms, he noted. For some producers, large herd expansions with conven tional management are not feasible and increasing pop ulation and environmental regulations in the East make them even less so, according to Schwartz. “We’re not going to have Califomia-size dairy farms in the Mid-Atlantic states,” he said.
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