A Pleasant Way to Farm,
A Pleasant Way to Farm By Troy Bishopp, Madison Co. SWCD Grazing Specialist Morrisville, N.Y.—On July 9th, Robert Yoder welcomed over 65 fellow farmers and friends interested in the benefits of grass-based dairying by complimenting his organic system as a pleasant way to farm for his family. His optimism for grazing was rewarded by a picture perfect twilight pasture walk surrounded by a healthy Jersey herd, abundant grass and 6 freezers of homemade ice cream. Could there be any finer reward? Adding to this spectacular pastoral scene was a long time friend of grassland and organic education, Dr. E. Ann Clark from the University of Guelph, Ontario. Robert described his journey to central New York from Wayne County, Ohio as a difficult move away from friends, but liked the great grass growing capabilities of Madison County and being part of the local farming community. “With expanding development pressure and farmland prices between 8000 to 30,000 dollars/acre, our top dairy counties in Ohio have undergone a farming culture shock where only 10% of the Amish community is farming, down from 70%,” he said. He thanked former owner Ted Aber for keeping the farm in sod which made organic transition smooth for this Organic Valley Cooperative farm family. “I have to give credit to Hoard’s Dairyman for us catching the grazing bug. The monthly column by Indiana dairy grazier, Dave Forgey got us interested and paying a hoof trimmer was the final straw, to getting the cows out for good,” said Robert to the group. Robert and son Abe, who is the pasture manager, guided the assembly of farmers to the nurse cow/calf paddock to look at calves grown on sunshine, grass and whole milk harvested directly from the walking dairy bars. “You can tell which ones are eating more than their fair share. We like having this early grazing education from the mothers that will sustain the youngsters for a lifetime,” exclaimed Abe. As the sod specialists scurried about the 50 acres of 12 hour paddocks, Dr. Clark led discussions on managing cool season grasses, maintaining a diverse sward, grazing for biological soil life, controlling Russian Knapweed and the cost of reseeding versus managing the pastures better and over seeding. Abe described their new above ground water system as a crucial component to the efficiency of keeping cows producing well on these small slices of pasture. It compliments the fenced out creek and pond area. “Cows are fenced out of the creek because we like to fish and fish need clean water,” added Robert. “The water is there in portable tubs so the cows don’t have to work too hard out here. We also follow them up with our draft horses to eliminate a lot of mowing, and they do a great job on controlling weeds,” said Abe. Two hours of grazing conversations and reading the land went incredibility quick as the sun faded into the coolness of the evening. This can only mean one thing--homemade ice cream topped with chocolate and fresh strawberry sauce. It’s a Madison County staple for bringing farmers together to relax and visit about a pleasant way of farming, far into the evening that is. We sincerely thank the Robert Yoder family for their passion and hospitality in hosting this event. The Conversations in Grazing Series is supported by the Madison Co. Grazier’s Group, Madison Co. SWCD, NYS Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, The Upper Susquehanna Coalition, Environmental Defense, The Finger Lakes-Lake Ontario Watershed Protection Alliance, The Graze-NY Program, The CNY Resource Conservation & Development Council, NYS Agricultural Environmental Management Program, USDA-NRCS and Phillips Brothers Photography For more information on local grazing events coming up in the next two months, contact Troy Bishopp, Madison Co. SWCD at (315) 824-9849 Published in the Mid York Weekly 7/22/2009