By Katie Spring
In 2023, Menard Center Farm received a $21,850 Dairy Farm Innovation and Alternative Management Grant.
Co-owned by Mike Menard and his son, Landis, Menard Center Farm (MCF) is an organic dairy milking 47 cows in Fairfield, VT. Over the next few years, Landis will take full ownership as Mike retires. With a generational transfer in sight, the father and son have been looking for ways to make their operation more efficient.
First, Mike and Landis enrolled in a Nutrient Management Planning course through UVM Extension, where they focused on better manure management as a key area to increase efficiency. Later, as members of Organic Valley, they enrolled in the NE-DBIC funded Organic Valley Dairy Cohort. Through the cohort, they worked with Brian Jerose of Agrilab Technologies, who noticed the cows were wasting coarse hay feed while the farmers spent a lot of time lugging bedding for their pack. Thanks to the technical assistance they received through UVM Extension and the Dairy Cohort, MCF determined that one key piece of equipment would do multiple jobs, and address manure and feed issues on the farm.
That’s where the Dairy Farm Innovation and Alternative Management Grant comes in.
With support from their Dairy Cohort TA, MCF applied for and was awarded $21,850 in funding to purchase a bale shredder. Before purchasing the new equipment, MCF frequently dealt with clogs in the tie-stall barn when gutter-cleaned manure mixed with coarse hay. Their cows wasted hay that was too long, and the bedding in the heifer and calf bedded pack didn’t absorb enough moisture because it was too large. The bale shredder could solve all three of these problems.
Within a month of use, the cows were eating more and wasting less hay. Just as importantly, Mike and Landis noticed a new ease in moving feed hay, which meant less strain on their backs. Over the course of their 10-month grant period, the success of the bale chopper became clearer. Chopped bales in the bedded pack pens led to improved animal cleanliness and reduced farm labor time. The bale chopper was particularly effective in processing coarse late-cut forage bales. After processing, cow refusal rates went from 50% to 10%, saving at least 30 bales.
While Mike and Landis found that earlier cut hay with less lignin doesn’t chop as easily, it’s also less likely to be refused by the cows. With that in mind, they’re using the bale chopper primarily for coarser hay and bedded pack.
Watch the bale shredder in action in this video with Landis, filmed by Brian Jerose:
Overall, the grant project has been a success.
Thanks to the bale shredder, Mike and Landis are saving up to 20 hours a month on labor, enabling them to spend more time on livestock care and other farm tasks. The decrease of feed refusal and subsequent bale savings opens up opportunities for MCF to increase revenue through sales of certified organic bales. All of this adds up to support Mike’s gradual retirement and farm transition to Landis.
After seeing a large impact and need for funding equipment and modernization efforts on dairy farms, NE-DBIC has expanded the original Dairy Farm Innovation & Alternative Management grant. The updated program is now called the Dairy Farm Improvement & Modernization Grant, and applications will open for a new round of funding in November.
Learn more about the upcoming grant round, and view our full Grants Calendar for future funding opportunities.
