Much-Needed Help for Georgia's Growing Pasture-Based Dairy Industry

For years, the rising cost of energy and feed, along with tightening credit, have forced droves of dairy farmers in southeastern Georgia to scale back or close shop entirely: From 1997 to 2007, the industry shed an average of 1,820 cows and 47 operations per year, according to USDA statistics. There is a bright spot, however: pasture-based dairies.

The numbers bear this out: Pasture-based dairies now represent more than 15 percent of the total herd in Georgia, up from a mere 1 percent in 2006. While only 20 out of about 270 dairy farmers are pasture-based, the herd on these dairies is typically 2-4 times that of their conventional peers. This growth is largely due to many farmers seeing the personal, environmental and financial advantages of these systems.

To help pasture-based dairy farmers develop and make the most of their operations, University of Georgia (UGA) researchers are using multiple SARE grants to create a body of technical knowledge specifically for these systems. “The growth we’re seeing in this market is an opportunity for our educators to be involved, and to understand that the technical specifications for a conventional dairy are very different than for a pasture-based dairy,” says UGA Forage Extension Specialist Dennis Hancock.

Hancock and his colleagues used a 2009 SARE grant to stage training tours, workshops and a two-day, pasture-based dairy summit to fill knowledge gaps in key topic areas, including nutrient management, rotational stocking strategies, forages and economics. In total, these events have reached more than 200 personnel from Extension, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and other agricultural support agencies.

In addition, UGA researchers have received two other SARE grants to improve the efficiency of grazing systems through better forage selection and management, and irrigation scheduling.

“They’re providing tremendous info that can really help people. I wish it had been available when we got started in 1993,” says Desiree Wehner, who, along with her husband, Al, operates three grazing dairies in southeastern Georgia, with a combined herd of about 1,700 cows.

The Wehners, who transitioned from a conventional system about 20 years ago, allowed the UGA researchers to conduct moisture and nitrogen studies on one of their farms to better understand their pastures’ needs at each time of the year. They have a more consistent, profitable system now, whereas in the past, Wehner says, “all we ever did was try to grow as much grass as we could, and sometimes we had too much, sometimes not much.”

A key outgrowth of Hancock’s SARE grant was the establishment of a farmer network in Georgia, northern Florida and South Carolina. It now has 35 participants who use it as a venue for peer-to-peer learning.

“There’s no way we can do all the research needed to answer all the questions that our pasture-based dairy producers have,” Hancock says. “But when they get together and learn from one another, that’s when they really start to make some progress. They vet each other’s ideas.”

Want more information? See the related SARE grant(s) LS07-196, Improved efficiency of grazing dairies using complementary pasture species and irrigation scheduling, ES09-096, Training Educators and Agricultural Professionals on Sustainable, Pasture-based Dairy Systems, and OS09-049, Creating, planning, and using forage quality budgets to optimize milk production on grazing daries.