Hello,
Very interesting that such a subject was brought up as I am in the same boat
here. I hope to be able to perform my work with the assistance of a team of
draft horses, but am not there yet. Of interest, I came across an
advertisement for a Bobcat utility vehicle that was pretty interesting. It
is a small 4 wheeler with a 4x6 (+/-) bed and a loader attachment. It is
called the Toolcat.
Two things it has working against it;
1. $34,000 and
2. No PTO
Anyhow, I would like to add to the questions below.
What is the profit potential of such a Jersey heard? Is it unrealistic to
ballpark at $1k/hd without selling organic? These numbers coming with
having the farm paid for and a pasture/straw pack housing system.
Having purchased a farm that has had it's two story 34x100 dairy barn
converted to loose housing (roughly speaking, but no stalls or gutters
anymore), is it a bad idea to consider milking in tie stalls in this same
barn?
I enrolled in the NRCS's EQIP grazing program. The program pays 75% of the
fencing/waterers/seeding of cropland to be kept in rotational grazing system
for 2 of 5 years. The fence will need to be a "Legal" fence, mine is a
4-wire high tensile with 5" post every 30 feet. Surprisingly, this fence
has effectively kept deer out of the pasture/field.
Sincerely,
Grove Town Farm
Central Minnesota, USA
> Hi friends,
>
> I'm wondering what you all would say is the minimum equipment/land needed
to
> start, say, a 30 cow Jersey dairy. Let's assume there's already an
existing
> parlor which is fully operational.
>
> How many acres of pasture ground would be needed?
>
> Would a tractor be absolutely necessary? If so, how small would be the
> minimum required to do the job?
>
