By Katie Spring, NE-DBIC Communications Manager and Dr. Jon Winsten, Conservation Performance LLC
Low-overhead dairy grazing (LODG) is a system of dairy management that could help boost profitability on many Northeast dairy farms.
LODG effectively reduces overhead costs per hundred weight of milk, thus improving overall profitability. Although the LODG system is not common in the Northeast U.S., it’s the norm in many other countries, such as New Zealand and Ireland. To capture labor and capital efficiencies, a larger herd (relative to a traditional dairy) is helpful; usually at least 150 cows or more. Maximizing nutrient intake from grazed pasture and smart supplemental feeding is the key to reducing total feed costs per cwt milk produced. Setting up cost-effective and efficient milking and feeding systems allows more milk shipped per full-time equivalent (FTE) worker. The LODG system works for conventional or organic milk production.
In early October, Northeast farmers gathered to learn directly from an Irish dairy grazing expert through a series of field days in New York, Vermont, and Maine.
Funded by the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center (NE-DBIC), the field days were facilitated by Dr. Jon Winsten of Conservation Performance LLC, who is leading a NE-DBIC Dairy Cohort to develop financial models and help farmers create plans for improving profitability using low-overhead dairy grazing.
Bringing Irish Grazing Expertise to the Northeast
Irish dairy expert, Dr. Padraig French, is a dairy farmer, animal scientist, and Head of the Livestock Systems Department and the Dairy Enterprise Leader at Teagasc, Ireland’s agricultural agency. During the field days, Dr. French led discussions on some of the critical success factors for Irish dairy: pasture utilization, labor efficiency, and having the right cows for the system. Although there are important differences between the two countries, the field days focused on ways that U.S. dairy farmers can use some of the Irish dairy techniques to become more profitable with grass farming.
Farmers across the region gathered to learn about Irish dairy production. In New York, 38 farmers attended the field day at Brooks Edge Farm. In Vermont, 48 people attended the field day at Harrison’s Homegrown. And in Maine, 54 people gathered at Milkhouse Farm and Creamery.
Key Lessons
Perhaps Dr. French’s most important point is that pasture utilization (the amount of high-quality pasture forage put through the cows) is highly correlated with farm profitability in Ireland. Therefore, managing pasture is the Irish dairy farmer’s number one priority.
Two other key lessons focused on the importance of managing pasture in times of surplus and times of shortage. Dr. French says that the most crucial mistake that dairy graziers make is not harvesting quickly enough when there is too much pasture forage – this results in decreased pasture quality. On the flip side, when pasture growth is slow, it’s important to slow down the rotation and feed stored forage when necessary. To manage pastures effectively, Irish dairy farmers spend time walking all of their pastures every week in order to estimate the amount of dry matter in each pasture and plan the rotation accordingly.
In looking at costs of milk production worldwide, Dr. French notes that it is not until a farm gets beyond 50% of dry matter intake from grazed pasture that total costs of production start to fall. This is because farms focused on pasture intake can get away with less investment in buildings and machinery. Dr. Winsten added that when dairy grazing operations attempt to maximize the ratio of their value of cows and land to their value of buildings and machinery, they are likely to achieve greater capital efficiency.
Farmgate milk prices have been highly volatile over time. High overhead costs tend to require more milk production during low milk prices (which further accentuates milk price volatility) to keep cash flow positive. By reducing overhead cost per unit of production, farmers gain the flexibility to reduce inputs and milk production when prices are low, without creating negative cash flow. One of Dr. French’s points was that being able to make a profit during low milk price periods is the most important way to stay in business over the long term.
Learn More
If you are interested to learn more about low-overhead dairy grazing in the Northeast, you can email Dr. Winsten at Winsten.vt@gmail.com.
Prior to the field days, Dr. Winsten and Dr. French co-hosted a series of webinars on Irish Pasture Based Dairy Systems. If you missed the field day, or want to dig deeper into these systems, you can watch the webinar series at bit.ly/irish-dairy-grazing, or view the first webinar in the series below:
