Providing them with stored feed and TMRs takes money, time and labor, some of which might best be directed to other areas of the dairy farm. Getting heifers out of the barn and onto well-managed pastures, however, can have positive benefits.
Convincing the dairy farmer of this, at least initially, might be one of the biggest challenges for those seeking to custom-graze dairy heifers.
“I live in dairy country with all shapes and sizes of operations with lots of animals, so the opportunity is there to help mitigate costs, and we have incredible pasture resources in the Northeast,” says custom grazier Troy Bishopp.
“It will take time to find the right customer because for most farmers this is a new concept. It’s been a bone of contention with me that using high-quality pastures is hardly mentioned in the portfolio as a way to reduce costs. It’s almost like pasture is not a feedstock until you bale it.”
Bishopp Family Farm is comprised of 90 acre of pastures on the home farm, located in Deansboro, New York, and another 52 rented pasture acres nearby. Their well-managed soils are high in organic matter and both farms are certified organic.
They currently graze 60 dairy heifers year-round and graze another four dozen bred heifers during the summer to manage excess grass availability.
Bishopp is the Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District Grazing Specialist and was the organizer of the first 2015 Northeast Contract Grazing Summit, which occurred this past March.
“Most large conventional dairies think grazing is going backward,” says Brian Reaser of On the Rail Farm in Kirkville, New York. Reaser has been contract-grazing dairy heifers for five years and is a specialist with the Tioga County Soil and Water Conservation District. Reaser says it took more than 100 phone calls to land the one dairy grazing contract. He custom-grazes heifers from a 1,000-cow dairy.
Dairy grazing basics
There are management differences between custom-grazing beef cows and grazing dairy heifers, Bishopp says. If a custom grazier is getting paid on gain, beef cattle can have an advantage, as they fatten more readily on the forages – high-quality grasses, legumes and forbs – found in high-quality pastures.
“Our stocking rate, the days on grass and the efficient use of our forage makes us the money more than which animal we graze because we get paid by the day per head,” Bishopp says.
“I stockpile as much pasture as I can to increase grazing days, which makes us more money and helps the plants and land. The constant is growing awesome grass for 250 days and seeing which customers appreciate it the most.”
Dairy heifers tend to put on more frame and can have a tendency to gain fat around the udders, which is not necessarily desirable. The nutritional requirements of bred heifers make them the easiest group to manage for custom graziers.
“Their nutrient requirements are lower than younger animals, and they can eat a variety of forage compositions and not compromise their weight gain or performance,” Bishopp says.
Most dairy farmers, however, will want the animals kept year-round. This will cut into a custom grazier’s profits no matter how great they are at pasture management. In areas where the grazing season is interrupted by harsh winter snows, they will have to utilize stored feeds.
“We make very little profit by keeping animals in the winter, which is a huge consideration in an overall dairy grazing strategy. It’s much harder to find dairy customers who only want summer grazing,” Bishopp says. “We graze the cows, truck in the hay. I basically don’t want to winter.”
Reaser grazes 50 bred heifers per year for the summer months only. Even though he was able to find a dairy farmer willing to give grazing a try and willing to have the cows returned after the grazing season, there are other obstacles.
“You’re going to have to treat them at some time,” Reaser says. Foot problems are common. Having heifers run through fences because they are not familiar with pasture is also common.
They will also “eat anything.” His contract removes him from liability for animal loss except for outright grazier negligence.
The suitability and adaptability of the animals to pasture grazing can be a concern. It takes training to transition confined heifers to a pasture system as well as the new diet. Sometimes an animal simply does not adjust. Bishopp often utilizes a few beef cows to teach heifers to adapt to his paddock system.
Another drawback to working with conventional dairy farmers is convincing them that a grazing heifer isn’t going to look the same as one kept in a barn on a TMR diet, says Steve Lorraine, Madison County Soil and Water District Manager. Freestall dairy cows tend to be fat, while pastured cows are leaner.
“Pastured dairy heifers don’t look like a freestall corn silage-fed heifer,” Lorraine says.
Lorraine has management experience on a large dairy farm as well as running a custom dairy heifer grazing operation. He noted that in his experience, six months after returning to the barn, pastured heifers will have added weight and return to the “look” of a confined cow.
Grazing lessons
A. Fay Benson is an experienced dairy farmer, having run a 45-cow grazing dairy in Groton, New York, for decades. He is a grazing specialist for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cortland County. Benson has been custom-grazing dairy heifers and currently grazes cows for a 1,500-milking-cow dairy.
Benson coordinated several Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) reports, conducting a variety of research studying the differences between grazing and confined dairy heifers.
His work provides guidance to custom graziers and offers the conventional dairy farm data demonstrating the benefits of grazing dairy cows. (The booklet, “Grazing Heifers: An Opportunity for Large Dairy Farms,” is available here – and contains data from his research studies.)
“We saw this health benefit of grazing animals,” Benson says. Targeted growth can be reached and cow health can be improved on pasture. Calving ease was shown to be higher in pastured heifers.
Dry matter intake increased on pasture, and the energy imbalance often seen at freshening was alleviated. The incidence of pre-mastitis, typically treated with antibiotics, was also reduced when cows were pastured.
Dairy farmers can realize savings through the grazing of heifers. While dairy farmers will want to pay custom graziers less than the per-day feed cost, he is also realizing other benefits.
By reducing feed, bedding, machinery, insurance and equipment costs, and by the reduction of manure and manure management needs, grazing offers an economical incentive over raising heifers in confinement, Benson says.
Any custom-grazing operation first needs the basics. Bishopp advises graziers to establish adequate fencing, to set up a corral area for veterinary care or weather emergency, to have a grazing plan and to demonstrate the ability to manage forages.
An enterprise budget is a necessity. The profitability of custom-grazing should be weighed against other viable options for the land. Marketing beforehand, to assess the demand for dairy grazing, and even securing a customer prior to making infrastructure investments might be wise, particularly for the beginning grazier.
“The price of animals, stored forages, meat and milk generally dictate how you will value your grazing. Right now, organic grass-fed grazing makes the most sense for us, but over the years we have changed back and forth between beef and dairy or both,” Bishopp says. “My customers employ my service because I save them money, reduce their nutrient footprint at their own farm, reduce animal numbers off their farm in favor of milk cows. (They) want animals off concrete to reduce labor and to offset high land prices."
"My advantage is that I have been at it for more than 25 years and have a reputation and records to share.” FG
Tamara Scully is a freelance writer based in Columbia, New Jersey.
PHOTO 1: Pasture grazing dairy heifers can be profitable for both the grazier and dairyman if pasture is managed correctly. Photo courtesy of Troy Bishopp.
PHOTO 2: An opportunity for summer graziers. Photo courtesy of Lynn Jaynes.
