Dairy Farming

Articles and news about dairy farming and milk production, a leading industry in rural Upstate New York.

Upstate Dairy Farms Are Facing an Uncertain Future – The River

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Upstate Dairy Farms Are Facing an Uncertain Future – The River

Jay Sharkey, owner of The Farm at the End of the Lane in Greene County, was among more than 100 small dairy farmers in the Northeast to receive notice this summer that his creamery, Maple Hill, would no longer pick up his milk next year. That will leave Sharkey with nowhere to send the 1,000 pounds, or about 116 gallons, of milk his farm yields per day.

Sharkey searched for other places to send his milk—“I contacted Horizon and they’re not taking any milk; I contacted Organic Valley, they’re not taking any milk”—but had no luck. Horizon Organic, which is owned by the multinational conglomerate Danone, announced at the end of August that 89 farms across the Northeast will be losing their contracts in August 2022.

Sharkey says Maple Hill let go of 30 farms, but official details remain scarce. The Kinderhook-based creamery did not respond to requests for comment. But Sharkey says there are three reasons Maple Hill is dropping farms: not enough milk, poor quality milk, or the farm is too far away from other Maple Hill-contracted farms. That third reason was the one Sharkey was given in his letter.

Why We Separate Baby Calves from their Mother — Derrick Josi | TDF Honest Farming

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Why We Separate Baby Calves from their Mother — Derrick Josi | TDF Honest Farming

Taking calves away from their mama cow is a common practice on dairy farms. Why do we do this? Here’s why:

First of all, let me remind you that cows and people are very different. Cows don’t exist in a family unit like most people do. Cows are herd animals which means they are most comfortable with other cows their size and age. Being without their herd-mates can cause a lot of anxiety for the cows, which is part of why they aren’t very naturally maternal.

Next up, calf safety.

After a calf is born, the mama cow will lick off the calf to clean it up and to help stimulate the calf to get up. However, this can be a safety issue. Sometimes cows will step on, lay on or crush their calf. Dairy cows generally aren’t very maternal. So if the cow abandons the calf, we step in and dry it off ourselves.

We also separate the calf to ensure its health.

Dairy farmers devastated after cows ingested wire leftover from telecom project – VTDigger

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Dairy farmers devastated after cows ingested wire leftover from telecom project – VTDigger

TUNBRIDGE — On the first Friday of July, Amber Hoyt stood in the dairy barn she owns with her husband, Scott. She held a plastic ziplock bag with small, mangled pieces of stainless steel wire in her hand.?

Since December, the Hoyts have pulled the wire from the bodies of three cows that recently died after showing symptoms the farmers hadn’t seen before: sudden bloody noses, a high number of aborted calves, obvious signs of discomfort, a decline in milk production.?

Last fall, the Hoyts found the wire scattered throughout the cows’ feed, which they grew on their land and other fields they rent in the rolling hills of Tunbridge. As the weather cooled and the Hoyts transitioned the cows out of pasture, they began feeding the animals silage, which they make by layering chopped hay from several different fields in a bunker.