Why Grass Could Save America's Dairies

It's no secret by now that American dairy farmers are in trouble.  Although consumer milk prices have remained steady, the price paid to farmers has plummeted, putting thousands of farms out of business. The conventional advice to those that remain is, "Get big or get out." But some farmers see only increased debt and lower quality of life in that future and are looking to a different path to financial solvency. Spurred on by economic crisis, they are giving grass-based farming a shot, and most are finding that it's saving their hide.

The dairy industry has focused on increased milk per cow to the exclusion of almost everything else, and this in no small part contributes to the financial crisis it now faces. If you measure success by that sole criteria, the industry should be doing better than ever. It has produced the amazing Holstein cow and placed her in a confinement system that allows her to produce between 21,000 and 23,000 pounds of milk per year (milk is measured by the hundredweight). But increased production has come at an increased cost. Industrial equipment, higher vet bills, waste removal expenses and more have all increased operating costs to the point where that income is often completely negated.  Switching to a pastured system, though, is seen as foolhardy by many seasoned dairy producers because it leads to a decrease in milk production and a decrease in profits. What those producers fail to add into the equation is that in a pastured system, costs are much lower, too.

It's true that a grass-based dairy will not pull in as much gross income per cow as a high-octane conventional system, but the costs are so much less that the profit per cow is much higher. Several farmers report that after years of losing money, switching to a grass-based system finally made them profitable again. A case study of one such farmer in Nebraska is what first sparked my interest in farming as a viable career. After growing frustrated and quitting the dairy business for a number of years, Mike Wichman decided to give grass-based dairying a try. Utilizing a management-intensive grazing (MiG) system in which cows are rotated on fresh pasture every day, he managed to net $100,133 in profit with 90 cows his first year. I'd say that's a pretty decent salary. Wichman's runaway success is perhaps exceptional, but the pattern is not. Researchers at the Center for Dairy Profitibility in Wisconsin find that graziers consistently have lower costs and higher profits per cow than their conventional counterparts. The results are even more profitable when MiG is applied.

Money isn't the only benefit to this system. As reflected in almost nonexistent vet bills, the cows are much healthier and less stressed. Farmers report that their lives are less hectic and their work more pleasant. And switching to a pastured system is a huge boon to the environment. Building healthy pasture sequesters carbon back into the soil, reducing the effects of global warming. Not to mention, rolling green fields dotted with cows are a whole lot more pleasant to the eye - and the nose - than acres of crowded feedlots loaded with manure.

The Department of Justice recently held a hearing on the crisis facing dairy farmers as part of a series of agricultural anti-trust hearings. It seems that the gears of the government are slowly beginning to grind towards fixing some of the unfair, systematic problems that have been confronting dairy farmers. But rather than wait for the government to save them, dairy farmers would do well for themselves, their cows, and the environment by taking charge of their own future and switching to a grass-based system.

Photo Credit: Jared and Corin