Farming

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 I like farming 🚜

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Why I like farming 🚜

Farming is real. It’s a bit of a war against natural order – fighting weeds, bacteria and disease but also is highly dependent on sustaining natural systems and remaining close to the land. It’s about mud and blood, manure, life and death.

Farming is dirty – after all its about turning mud and manure into crops and ultimately feed or food. Livestock poops a lot. Bugs, bacteria and mold can be gross but it’s part of the natural processes and the cycle of life that so much of urban life is distant from.

Modern agriculture can make people forget how different livestock fit together on the homestead 🐷🐄🐐

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Modern agriculture can make people forget how different livestock fit together on the homestead 🐷🐄🐐

High performance animals like used on professional dairies such as Holsteins or Yorkshire pigs on hog farms can make people forget why different stock is raised for different purposes. Professional farms feed a lot of grain and grass in controlled rations so it’s easy to forget animals unique strengths.

Goats are browsers, they are best for cleaning up areas of brush and woody areas. Their thing is brush not pasture, they aren’t miniature cows.

Cows on the other hand are grass eaters. They turn land that isn’t good for crops into valuable forage that cows can uniquely break down grass and turn it into milk and meat. Grass grows a lot of places where other crops won’t.

Pigs are organic recyclers. Dairy farms had them traditionally to drink waste milk not fit for human consumption. Homesteaders gave them food scraps and spoiled bread.

Corn in Greenville

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It's not like you've never seen this before. Probably by the time you see this picture, it's all chopped up and sitting in a silo somewhere, ready to feed the cows this winter.

Taken on Saturday September 23, 2006 at Farming.

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.