Dairy
PaddockTrac Draws a Crowd
We hosted a pasture walk with the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship (DGA) and NRCS Cooperative Agreement at Walter Organic Family Farms on September 22. This event featured the PaddockTrac technology that was developed at the University of Missouri and is being tested on DGA farms around the country. The PaddockTrac is a unit that mounts onto…
Read MoreSpring calving in May keeps some challenges at bay
As many farmers are beginning what they call their “spring calving” here in January and early February, I am grateful that we have set our calving season back to true spring calving in May. I am writing this after coming in from morning chores of breaking ice off a tire tank for our heifer calves…
Read MorePayments for Hauling Water and Feed to Pasture
Attention to livestock producers with pasture: as a result of the drought we had this summer, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) has edited the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish program (ELAP) and it will now give producers payments for hauling water and feed to livestock on pasture. The payments are easy to…
Read More“Virtual Roundtables” are a Great Place to Learn
Did you know that if you are a Mentor or Apprentice in the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship program that you have access to our monthly webinars called Virtual Roundtables? The webinars are on the first Monday of each month at 11:30 and last for one hour. Each month has a new topic to learn about. The…
Read MoreLuhman: Dealing with Drought
It is time for Minnesota livestock producers to get creative with how we are going to feed our cow herds through the winter. Below are a few things that we can consider. If you are a crop farmer who has never considered bringing livestock onto the farm, there are livestock producers who need your help.…
Read MoreDGA Update: Fair Season Celebrates Farmers
It’s fair season in MN! Next week is the start of the Minnesota State Fair. The first Minnesota State Fair was held in 1859 near what became downtown Minneapolis. This was a year after Minnesota was granted statehood. During the fair’s early years, the site of the exposition changed annually with stops in Minneapolis, St.…
Read MorePodcast: Growing Grazing Dairy Farmers
Angie Walter and her husband Nate run an organic dairy in Central Minnesota, and are also masters in the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship program. Today’s episode of Dirt Rich features them in conversation with their first apprentice, Ryan Heinen, who now manages a dairy in Waukesha, Wisconsin. His passion for ecology and restoration led him to…
Read MoreDGA Update: The Pasture Productivity Pail
I attended a field day last week about the Pasture Productivity Pail (PPP). This pail contains a set of tools used to make informed decisions on pasture management and improvement. It is modeled after and complements the NRCS Soil Health Bucket. The PPP provides additional information on many above-ground factors that influence pasture productivity. It…
Read MoreSpring Grazing Management on ‘Dirt Rich’
When is the best time to turn the cows out? On Episode 31 of Dirt Rich, Kent Solberg and Jared Luhman dig into this decision that sets you up for the rest of the grazing season. It can be awful tempting to get started as soon as we see green, but Kent illustrates how letting…
Read MorePodcast: AMPed for Grazing!
Over the years of establishing and fine-tuning their management systems, grazing has become absolutely key in both Jared Luhman’s and Doug Voss’ cattle and dairy operations. Beyond rotational grazing, Adaptive Multi-Paddock grazing (or AMP) has improved the ecology of their farms–not to mention saved the time, energy, and expense of hauling around feed and other…
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