Grazing Dairy Cattle

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Grazing Dairy Cattle

• Pastureland Dairy
• Manlius NY
• Peter L Mapstone- Owner Operator

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History of Pastureland Dairy

• Established in 1944

I Graduated from Cornell in 1987
I Worked with my father after college
It was a typical 60 cow conventional Dairy when I
came home from college.
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High Production High Stress

• My Cornell education had me thinking about high
  production and expansion
• Tried to talk dad into building a milking parlor

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From Confinement to Grazing

• Finally, I realized that I wanted more out of
  life than a high herd average

I decided to take a chance and turn the cows out
of the barn to make us both more comfortable
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Pasture becomes a source of feed

• The cows were comfortable and they seemed to hold
  production

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Making the adjustment from TMR to grass

• Training the cows and the farmer
• At first cows liked being outside and eating
  fresh grass
• Soon the Holsteins realized that they had to work
  at eating enough to sustain such high production

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Homesick Holsteins

• I had to choose between me working hard or the
  cows working hard
• I already was working hard enough so I chose the
  cows to work.

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Pastureland Dairy is born

• A grazing dairy had to have a grazing name

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Grass First

• The first component is grass

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Developing a Pasture System

• fencing

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The Road to Riches

• A laneway is needed to get the cows from the barn
  to the pasture

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Water for Cows

• A good supply of clean water helps to ensure high
  production

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Cattle Moving Help

• A good cow dog and a 4 wheeler are very helpful.

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Butcher Me Elmo

• I enlisted the help of a lead steer to move bred
  heifers

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Palpation Rail

• The rail is useful anytime animals need to be
  handled

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Grazing Saves Money and Time

• Our switch to grazing saves money on the feed
  bill
• Milking cows purchased protein decreases from
  7-8lbs to 1lb in the summer
• Approximately 75 of forage comes from pasture
  (sometimes more)
• Barn chores go from being an all day job to
  almost an afterthought
• Heifer raising costs are cut in half
• Herd health greatly improves
  (feet, udders, exercise, stress levels)
• Machinery costs went down

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Profitability Measures 1996-2003
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Happy Cows are Less Likely to get Culled

• Cow numbers went from 60 cows in 1991 to 200 in
  2001
• All internal growth

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The Dollars and Cents of Crossbreeding
150 Holstein Cows _at_ 75lb/cow 11250lbs milk per
day. Assume 3.6 fat 405lbs fat/day 200
Jersey/Holstein cross cows _at_ 57lbs/cow 11400
lbs milk per day. Assuming 4.3 fat 490 lb
fat/day This level of cows corresponds to about
the same amount of feed consumption per day for
the different size animals in my herd. Holstein
herd 405 lbs fat/day x 365 days 147,825
lbs/year x 1.775 262,389 Crossbred herd
490 lbs fat/day x 365 days 178,850 x 1.775
317,458 The same ratio applies for protein
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With Success Comes Challenges

• Needed more housing for dairy cows
• Added on to existing free stall in 93

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More Cows Increases Need for a Parlor

• Flat barn parlor was the answer for us
• First a straight 8 in 95
• Double 7 in 01

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Holding Area for Flat Parlor
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New Farm

• The rapidly expanding herd leads to the need for
  more land and buildings
• In 1997 a neighboring farm was purchased, fenced
  and allows the heifers to be moved out of the
  milking barn.
• This move creates more space for milk cows.

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Free stall at new farm
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Labor

• The larger herd requires more labor
• The new farm has a house that can be used to
  house employees.
• First 4 years housed American families, next 4
  have been all Hispanic

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House

• My entire labor force now lives on the farm just
  a stones throw away

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Management Projects

• Extra labor helps to give me time for management
  projects and family

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Barn Renovations

• Added a free stall at heifer farm
• Added a feed storage in the form of bag pad
• Put in manure pit
• Renovated old chicken barn for small calves and
  yearling heifers

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More Land

• Another neighboring farm is added
• Still used as crop land
• Last year 70 acres of trees and scrub land was
  added

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Pastureland Dairy Today

• Grazing 215 cows (75 crossbred)
• Grazing over 100 heifers
• Partially seasonal
• 250 acres of pasture
• 300 acres of grass hay

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Future of Pastureland Dairy

• Possible organic seasonal dairy
• Would require many changes
• Possible merchandising of extra animals to
  maintain existing size
• Possibly a second operation of similar design
  depends on the right situation

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The Mapstones on a weekend away in NH
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Pastureland Dairy Mission Statement

• The purpose of Pastureland Dairy is to run a farm
  business that is both interesting and profitable
  for those involved, always keeping in mind that
  family and God are the number one priorities.