Dairy is a foundational industry across the Northeast, producing food and generating billions of dollars for the regional economy.
At the same time, dairy faces challenges – one of which is workforce development. In 2025, to bolster pathways into the dairy workforce, NE-DBIC offered the Catalyzing Regional Dairy Workforce Grant to fund projects focused on developing and expanding dairy workforce programming, including federal and state registered apprenticeships.
Through this grant, Wolfe’s Neck Center was awarded $100,000 to run the Growing Graziers Cohort – a 9-month, hybrid educational opportunity for aspiring dairy farmers interested in managed grazing in the Northeast – and to redesign the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship program for the Northeast.
Wolfe’s Neck Center is particularly well positioned for this work. Not only do they facilitate regional farmer networks and workforce development programs, but they also operate a commercial organic dairy using managed grazing systems. This blend of networking support with on-the-ground experience means Wolfe’s Neck doesn’t just support farmers – they are farmers. Along with managing the New England Grazing Network, they’ve been partnering with the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship (DGA) since 2015.
DGA is a two-year program that includes 3,700 hours of paid on-farm training with a certified Mentor Dairy Grazier, related technical instruction through the Managed Grazing Innovation Center (MGIC), and additional facilitated education. Graduates of the DGA become Journey Dairy Graziers and are prepared for career advancement in farm management, ownership, transition, or other value chain roles. While DGA has previously run independently in Maine, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, each state operated independently.
Now, with funding from the Catalyzing Regional Dairy Workforce Grant, Wolfe’s Neck Center is managing the Northeast portion of the DGA program, covering not just Maine but all of New England and eastern New York – and transforming it to a regional model with program management under one umbrella.
Wolfe’s Neck is also collaborating with DGA coordinators in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, and New Jersey. Kate Turcotte, the Senior Manager of Farmer Education at Wolfe’s Neck Center, says building out a regional network leads to better placements for apprentices. “It’s helpful to have a bigger perspective when talking to applicants,” she said. This regional approach also leads to stronger relationships across state lines, and provides better collaboration, coordination, and effective use of resources.
In order to reach farmers throughout the region, two parallel cohorts were established: a Northern Cohort led by Wolfe’s Neck Center with support from the University of Vermont, and a Southern Cohort led by the Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture in collaboration with Cornell University. One key aspect of the Growing Graziers Cohort are state and regional meet-ups on DGA Mentor farms. These meet-ups bring aspiring dairy farmers together to receive technical training on established farms. In June, the NE-DBIC team attended one such meet-up at the Corse Family Farm in Whitingham, VT.
Managed Grazing and Pasture Improvement at Corse Farm
Corse Farm is run by Leon and Linda Corse, and their daughter, Abbie. Leon has served as a Master Grazing Mentor for DGA for nearly 10 years, and the family recently welcomed a prior apprentice, Mackenzie, back to the farm as a part-owner. Together, Leon, Linda, Abbie, and Mackenzie, along with support from consultant Sarah Flack, led an in-depth workshop covering pasture improvement and managed grazing.
Like many areas across the Northeast, Vermont has contended with both flood and drought over the past three years. Whitingham, in Southern Vermont, is still low on rainfall. This dry weather magnifies existing soil deficiencies, which makes pasture management and building organic matter all the more important. According to the 2021 UVM Extension State of Soil Health in Vermont, the average organic matter in Vermont is 5.25% in pastures and 4.75% in hay fields. Since organic matter improves soil’s ability to hold water and nutrients, the levels of organic matter directly impact a field’s ability to withstand both drought and extreme rain.
Corse Farm has 9% organic matter in some fields.
Leon equates their high organic matter to their land management: the fields have not been plowed for 40 years. Instead, they manage pasture through grazing, frost seeding clover, and spreading liquid manure at specific times. Standing in the pasture, Sarah Flack pointed to the mix of plants present. A healthy pasture, she said, has three plant categories: grasses, legumes, and forbs, and the high plant density is a sign of health.
This year, the Corse Farm prioritized spreading manure within two to ten days after haying, and they’ve seen a marked improvement in field regrowth. As the group talked about soil and pasture health, Leon said, “I look at a field as a bank account. You need to put money in if you want to take money out – you need to put fertilizer in if you want to take grass out.”
Through programs like DGA, the generations of experience and lessons learned at Corse Farm spread to other farms throughout the region. New and experienced farmers alike attended the field day, with farmers coming from Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont. At the end of the day, Kate Turcotte said “it’s about relationships. This grant helps get younger dairy graziers together and offers them a pathway into dairy farming.”
That pathway is made stronger by learning from experienced graziers like the Corse family, developing relationships with peers, and receiving focused technical training like that offered at the field day. Leon Corse knows well how important programs like DGA and the Growing Graziers cohort is to the future of dairy. He’s seen apprentices go on to start farms, become large animal vets, and, with Mackenzie, become part of his own farm’s future. Now, Corse Farm is hosting another apprentice who will be with them for two years.
To learn more about the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship and Wolfe’s Neck Center, visit wolfesneck.org/farmers/dga
