My Heart's in Dairyland!
I grew up in Wisconsin's dairy country in the southern part of the state. Our home was at the edge of the village (population 1,000). Every other day, winter or summer, my job was to trudge up a hill to a farm bordering on the village and bring back from the farm's milk house a half-gallon of milk (not pasteurized, of course!). Sometimes, with a friend, I climbed the stile that took us over the barbed wire fence and right into one of the pastures where we carefully avoided "cow piles" as we headed to a wooded play area. To this day, I can smell the sweet pastureland, with its buttercups and violets, and not so sweet cow piles!
It All Starts With the Soil!
Despite claims that raising crops and animals organically costs so much and can't be profitable, scientific studies show quite the contrary. A webinar recorded June 27, 2013, tells the story.
The old adage in organic dairy systems, "it all starts with the soil," means that for high forage intake and optimal milk production maintaining good soil fertility is a must.
Investing in a farm's soils can provide returns, "dividends," long after the deposit is made in the proverbial bank account.
Making the Initial Investment
An account of such an initial investment and its payoff is described in the webinar showing the organic evolution of certified acreage at the University Farm of California State University, Chico. Professor Cindy Daley of the University's College of Agriculture tells of a long-term soil remediation field trial to study effects of a basic soil amendment program on forage quality and yield and the economic return that would result from added milk production.
If you savor scientific data to boost your rationale for investing in organic farming, savor here:
I prefer merely to savor organic dairy products
and recall the pasture land of my youth!
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