Dairy Farm Business Summary, Intensive Grazing Farms, New York, 2002

Abstract

E.B. 2003-17Dairy 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. This is the seventh year that a study of intensive grazing farms has been done. The farms included in the study are a subset of New York State farms participating in the Dairy Farm Business Summary (DFBS). Thirty-four 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% of the forage consumed during the growing season was from grazing. Operators of these 34 farms were asked to complete a grazing practices survey. Twenty-three of the farms did complete it. The investigators had special interest in practices used on farms with above average profitability. Therefore the study centered on 30 farms which were not organic farms, were not first year grazers and on which at least 40 percent of forage consumed during the grazing season was grazed. Twenty-one of these 30 farms completed a grazing practices survey. These 21 farms were divided on the basis of net farm income per cow (without appreciation) above and below $490 which was the average for these 21 intensive grazing farms. Eleven farms with net farm income per cow above$490 are in the “Above Average” group and ten farms with net farm income per cow below $490 comprise the “Below Average” grou