Prior to the subjugation of the Native American plains peoples and the opening of the prairies to agriculture, cattle ranching and stockyard feeding, etc., the Appalachian Mountain region was a major beef and pork production area. This was accomplished through woodland grazing. I've seen it in practice on some farms in the Cumberland Plateau. It is probably not nearly as efficient as open field pasturage, due to the impact of the shaded environment on the growth of grass, but noneheless may be a way to expand the forage options for organic dairy farms. One of the things I've noticed in the woodland pasture areas that I've been in (aside from a grass floor and open, airy character) is that they are not overrun by woody non-native plant species as adjoining areas of the forest may be. I'm not advocating we start carving up large tracts of wodland for pasturage, but there may be smaller, isolated wooded areas closer in that farmers may not be utilizing simply because we've discarded and forgotten yet another historic practice in the name of "efficiency." George Frantz
--- On Thu, 6/4/09, Joel and Sarah Gagnon <[email protected]> wrote: From: Joel and Sarah Gagnon <[email protected]> Subject: [SustainableTompkins] Organic Dairies Watch the Good Times Turn Bad To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, June 4, 2009, 1:32 PM There is a practical limit to herd size based on the distance the cows need to walk to access pasture land. How much land is needed depends on the quality of the land resource itself, and on how it is managed. Intensive rotational grazing (where pastures are divided into fairly small areas that are grazed intensively, but briefly, on a rotating basis) is easy on the land and supports improvement of the quality of the forage. It may make sense to add irrigation at some point to maintain production, which otherwise tends to flag in some years in the heat and dryness of summer. The cost of the land is an issue in the economics of farming of any kind. Dairying is surviving in areas not ideal for it because the cost of land is lower there than in areas where land costs more but is of better quality. Grazing is a good use of land too steep to manage for row crops without serious risk of degradation from erosion. It can complement and support lowland agriculture, and vice versa. That was the traditional pairing, and it is likely to reemerge for all the reasons that made sense before cheap energy. Joel _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins Questions about the list? ask [email protected] free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
