Dairy Farm Business Summary, Intensive Grazing Farms, New York, 2009

Abstract

E.B. 2010-10Dairy farm managers throughout New York State have been participating in Cornell Cooperative Extension's farm business summary and analysis program since the early 1950's. Managers of each participating farm business receive a comprehensive summary and analysis of the farm business. The farms included in the study are a subset of New York State farms participating in the Dairy Farm Business Summary and Analysis Program (DFBS). Thirty-nine New York farms indicated that they grazed dairy cows at least three months, moving to a fresh paddock at least every three days and more than 30 percent of the forage consumed during the growing season was from grazing. Operators of these 39 farms were asked to complete a grazing practices survey. Sixteen of the farms did complete it. The study centered on 27 New York farms which were not organic farms and were not first year grazers. The “Non-Grazers” are 82 farms with similar herd size to the grazing farms and are compared to the average of the 27 grazing farms