Mine is probably nothing you want to hear. Get the government out of
farming. Eliminate all subsidies, stricter pollution laws, Tax
incentives for sustainable land uses, and encourage larger family
farms. What we are farming now is made up of at least 6 of those
smaller dairies that I know of. We get alot of visitors and comments
from people everywhere around town about how beautiful we have made
this valley. If we were not here, it would probably go into houses
and hobby farms. We are now farming around 1000 acres of pasture. All
of it needs alot of work, we like what we are doing and see our plans
working out better than the original dream.
Brad Cowan
Astoria,Oregon
On Mar 23, 2006, at 12:39 AM, Richard and Carol Conklin wrote:
> Brad, We have about 75 cows in the milking herd and for years have
> milked
> 65--the capacity of our tie-stall barn. Right now we're milking 51,
> due in
> large part to the fact that since my knee replacement surgery, I'm
> pretty
> useless, and things are 'going wrong'. Back in '78 when we started
> here, we
> were considered a large herd, but 'doomed' because our cows were
> Jerseys.
> Now there are many 'mixed' milking herds all over this area. And
> Brad, the
> farm we purchased was exactly the same size as the original,
> started to
> raise sheep and provide wool for Union army uniforms during the
> Civil War.
> But yes, there are many beautiful, little 'dead' barns around here.
> Whats
> your solution?
> Dick Conklin
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Melody & Brad Cowan" <cowandairy@charter.net>
> To: <graze-l@witt.ac.nz>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 11:15 PM
> Subject: Re: [Graze-l] Good pasture. Animal health.
>
>
>
>> Dick
>> How many cows do you milk? Around here 70 years ago 25 cows was a
>> big operation as it probably was in your area. How many of those
>> farms went out of business to make up your farm.
>>
>> Brad Cowan
>> Astoria, Oregon
>> On Mar 22, 2006, at 12:05 AM, Richard and Carol Conklin wrote:
>>
>>
>>> But Brad, Do you have college and high school kids visit your farm?
>>> We do,
>>> and they mostly love the cows and the farm. I discuss our genetics,
>>> barn
>>> management, and crop/pasture tactics--and then I ask them
"So, who
>>> wants to
>>> farm?"--laughter, Brad--'we'd love to but how do you pay your
>>> bills?'
>>> Dick Conklin
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Melody & Brad Cowan"
<cowandairy@charter.net>
>>> To: <graze-l@witt.ac.nz>
>>> Sent: Sunday, May 28, 2006 10:26 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [Graze-l] Good pasture. Animal health.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> Dick
>>>> We left my family farm which we had bought 16 years earlier.
We
>>>> had 3
>>>> mortgages. We parted out our old place and moved to where we
are
>>>> now
>>>> 6 years ago. Our landlord is the 3rd generation here. :
>>>>
>>>> Brad Cowan
>>>> Astoria. Oregon
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Brad, Are you working a farm that's been in your family,
or are
>>>>> you a
>>>>> first-generation start-up, paying a mortgage like me?
>>>>> Dick Conklin
>>>>> Amity Farm
>>>>> Ft.Ann,NY
>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>> From: "Melody & Brad Cowan"
<cowandairy@charter.net>
>>>>> To: <graze-l@witt.ac.nz>
>>>>> Sent: Sunday, May 28, 2006 12:08 AM
>>>>> Subject: Re: [Graze-l] Good pasture. Animal health.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Rick
>>>>>> So If our production is only around 14,000, this is not
>>>>>> respectable?
>>>>>> To me if the cows are healthy, bills are paid on time,
lower
>>>>>> production per cow is more desirable for the cow's
welfare.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As far as labor units, We have barns so we have what
you call a
>>>>>> hybrid system. We are at about 120 cows per man plus
raising all
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> heifers. We would like to do better but we do provide
all our own
>>>>>> infrastructure (Doing all our own silage
making,fertilizing,
>>>>>> liming,road building, mechanical work, ditch cleaning,
spraying
>>>>>> etc.)
>>>>>> We have just hired a herd manager from NZ that was a
lone
>>>>>> manager on
>>>>>> a 300 cow herd. His wife helped in spring and the
owner
>>>>>> spelled him
>>>>>> for days off. All extra jobs were done by contractors.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Brad Cowan
>>>>>> Astoria Oregon
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Are you stating that milk production on typical NZ
dairy
>>>>>>> farms are
>>>>>>> in the 19,000 lb area now? If so, it would be a
respectable
>>>>>>> level
>>>>>>> of production, particularly with being able to
feed low cost
>>>>>>> inputs.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Based on the comments of NZ dairy farmers with
"controlled
>>>>>>> starvation" and longer dry periods, once a
day milking, etc.,
>>>>>>> can
>>>>>>> this still deliver such production?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Your characterization of U.S. farmers has always
been so
>>>>>>> different
>>>>>>> from the actual reality. The large confinement
operations
>>>>>>> tend to
>>>>>>> be the most profitable and to make the claim of
force feeding
>>>>>>> grain
>>>>>>> is off the mark. The cows are bred to convert
nutrients at these
>>>>>>> levels and if they have serious metabolic and
somatic problems
>>>>>>> which would hurt their production, it would also
hurt the bottom
>>>>>>> line if it became a serious problem. The great
majority of
>>>>>>> these
>>>>>>> farmers are very focussed businessmen and they
need to be
>>>>>>> focussed
>>>>>>> considering that they are in a mature industry and
mature
>>>>>>> industries offer thin margins. It is a fact of
life and
>>>>>>> economics
>>>>>>> we can not change.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Because NZ does impact so many other countries
with their
>>>>>>> production, they have made many enemies, but
again, that is life
>>>>>>> and when you hurt others, you can expect some
pressure to be
>>>>>>> exerted. With little other industry, I can well
understand the
>>>>>>> difficult situation that NZ is in.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> While most of the pasture based farming
nutritional claims
>>>>>>> tend to
>>>>>>> be a bit optimistic, the levels of CLA are clearly
higher in
>>>>>>> pasture based dairy farming and as we learn more
about CLA,
>>>>>>> it may
>>>>>>> prove to be a significant benefit to health.
Tentatively, it
>>>>>>> looks
>>>>>>> good, but it will take many decades to be sure. So
often things
>>>>>>> that looked too good to be true, turned out to be
far less than
>>>>>>> expected and sometimes with serious side effects.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The rule of thumb in our area is roughly 50 cows
per FTE. It is
>>>>>>> difficult to improve on that. I would be curious
if we are
>>>>>>> having
>>>>>>> many dairy farmers in the U.S. who have year round
grazing
>>>>>>> able to
>>>>>>> handle 300 cows by one person?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Brad, can you do this? Or know of others who can
do it?
>>>>>>> Rick W.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> leon wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I�ve seen lots of pasture research outside of
New Zealand
>>>>>>>> and the
>>>>>>>> pastures
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> are not fit for goats. They lack legumes and
palatable
>>>>>>>> grasses so
>>>>>>>> would not
>>>>>>>> give results like those achieved in New
Zealand.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Cornell University was harvesting metre high
pasture for hay
>>>>>>>> when
>>>>>>>> I wa there
>>>>>>>> so I told them that is why they have to buy
protein and feed so
>>>>>>>> much
>>>>>>>> concentrates.
>>>>>>>> A US farmer in a good year-round pasture
growing area on yout
>>>>>>>> north west
>>>>>>>> coast put his cows into foot high fescue and
wondered why his
>>>>>>>> milk
>>>>>>>> crashed
>>>>>>>> and he blamed grazing. There was not a clover
plant in the
>>>>>>>> paddock
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The trials were at a Ruakura research centre
with fully fed
>>>>>>>> cows
>>>>>>>> on pasture,
>>>>>>>> as most cows are here during the fast growth
periods.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> You and Dave have ignorant and biased ideas re
feeding in New
>>>>>>>> Zealand.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Many top Holstein/Friesian cows in New Zealand
fully fed on
>>>>>>>> pasture and a
>>>>>>>> bit of maize silage as necessary, but no
bought feed, produce
>>>>>>>> 8,700 litres
>>>>>>>> (19,000 lb) of milk and 690 kg of milk solids
(1,500 lb of
>>>>>>>> protein
>>>>>>>> and fat)
>>>>>>>> in about 300 days at a very low cost allowing
one farmer to
>>>>>>>> milk
>>>>>>>> 300 cows
>>>>>>>> and run the farm on his own.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> New Zealand farmers are incredibly adaptive,
industrious, hard
>>>>>>>> working and
>>>>>>>> intelligent so in no time supply what the
world wants in milk,
>>>>>>>> meat, pasture
>>>>>>>> seeds, fruit, etc. When we were paid for fat
only our breeders
>>>>>>>> bred
>>>>>>>> Friesians with 5% fat. We now export large
volumes of
>>>>>>>> avocados to
>>>>>>>> Australia
>>>>>>>> and other countries and you�ll know about
Chinese gooseberries.
>>>>>>>> Australia is
>>>>>>>> so scared of our apple growers that they ban
all apple imports
>>>>>>>> with pathetic
>>>>>>>> objections, despite an Australia/New Zealand
free-trade
>>>>>>>> agreement.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> New Zealand has more trade restrictions
against it than all the
>>>>>>>> countries
>>>>>>>> put together.
>>>>>>>> When our dairy industry promoted our
pasture-fed milk with more
>>>>>>>> CLA, the
>>>>>>>> French told us to stop doing so or they would
ban all our dairy
>>>>>>>> produce into
>>>>>>>> EU.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> As many on graze-l have told your deaf ears it
is production
>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>> profit per
>>>>>>>> man that counts, not per cow, and our cows are
healthier and
>>>>>>>> live
>>>>>>>> twice as
>>>>>>>> long as yours.
>>>>>>>> When you guys have 300 cow farms run my one
person with
>>>>>>>> contractors
>>>>>>>> spreading fertilisers and doing a few other
jobs, come back.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> What about you and Dave always forgetting that
this is a
>>>>>>>> grazing
>>>>>>>> forum, not
>>>>>>>> a cruelty to animals one where they are
force-fed on grain,
>>>>>>>> etc., and
>>>>>>>> survive only two seasons on concrete with
aching legs and sore
>>>>>>>> feet. Don�t
>>>>>>>> you guys feel for your animals.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> You are so used to it that you don�t notice
your cows walking
>>>>>>>> gingerly as if
>>>>>>>> on glass, but actually with very sore feet.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Best wishes,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Vaughan Jones
>>>>>>>> Hamilton
>>>>>>>> New Zealand
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>>> Graze-l@witt.ac.nz
>>>>>>>> http://graze-l.witt.ac
.nz/mailman/listinfo/graze-l
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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.nz/mailman/listinfo/graze-l
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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>>>>>>
>>>>>
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