Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance

Reaping the Rewards: Award-winning Dairy, Ackermann Dairy Farm, Hardwick, VT, owned and operated by Jimmy and Sara Ackermann

By Tamara Scully, NODPA News Contributing Writer

How does a dairy farm win an award? Do they have the highest milk production per cow? The lowest cull rate? The least amount of lameness or mastitis? Or maybe they’ve bred cows with great genetics or grown the most nutritious hay.If the award is the Vermont Dairy Farmer of the Year for 2023, then the award was earned through a combination of hard work and sustainable business practices, and given to a dairy that is an exemplary overall example of dairy farming, with - according the University of Vermont press release - an “outstanding herd, quality milk production, enviable pastures and commitment to dairying.”

posted to Featured Farms on Thu, Nov 16, 2023

The O DAIRY ACT – how it was made and a summary of what it mandates

By Ed Maltby, NODPA Executive Director

Speaking at the announcement of the bill at the Choiniere Family Farm, a grass-fed organic dairy in Highgate Center, Guy Choiniere, one of the farm’s owners, is quoted as saying that with the cost of goods increasing, “The margins are much tighter for us, so this bill is super important.” In a recent article on July 22, 2022, Forbes magazine stated that “Data is Power.” Similarly, withholding that data is creating an anti-competitive marketplace and depriving producers of their rights to information. Organic dairy brands are restricting what producers can share and discouraging Congress from supporting regional brands that would bring competition to the marketplace.

posted to Policy in the News on Thu, Nov 16, 2023

USDA AMS Organic Research Project Survey

This survey is reprinted by NODPA with the permission of the USDA in order to allow participation by those producers/organizations that are not connected to the internet. To fill out the form online, please click here. The survey has been developed to obtain feedback directly from members of the organic industry, and the closely related public, regarding what organic data is currently needed and where future resources should be focused to provide additional value. If you'd prefer to fill out, print and mail in, the address is at the end of the survey.

posted to Policy in the News on Thu, Nov 16, 2023

Whole Herd Health: Holistic Healing Therapies That Work A NODPA Field Days Workshop with Dr. Cynthia Lankenau, DVM

By Liz Bawden, NODPA Board Past Co-President

In my humble opinion, Dr. Cynthia Lankenau ranks as one of the “rock stars” of the holistic veterinary world. So, we were fortunate to welcome her back to the Annual NODPA Field Days in Reedsville, PA this September. “Whole Herd Health” is a pretty massive topic, and she uses a variety of healing modalities in her practice: botanicals, acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine and reiki. Her founding mantra seemed to be “Do what works”. A one-hour workshop could not possibly make the attending farmers competent practitioners of any of these modalities, so Dr. Lankenau pointed out some basic treatments for common health problems.

posted to Organic Production on Thu, Nov 16, 2023

Managing Soil Fertility and Other Lessons Learned on Grass-fed Dairies

By Sara Ziegler, Heather Darby, and Sarah Flack

Grass-fed dairy continues to experience sustained market growth. While this presents opportunities for producers, it can also bring some significant challenges and require shifts in management to be successful. Through a project funded through the USDA Organic Research and Education Initiative Grant (Project no. 2018-02802), Dr. Heather Darby and her team investigated a diversity of grass-fed approaches and strategies that ultimately led to a wide range of productivity and financial viability While each farm is unique in its own ways, several trends have begun to emerge.

posted to Organic Production on Wed, Nov 15, 2023

Ask the Vet Column: Watch out for severe ketosis

By Dayna Locitzer, DVM

Severe ketosis is one of those diseases that, if you haven’t seen it very often, you might be confused at what you are seeing. Was my cow bitten by something rabid? Did it get some bad feed and now has circling disease? Why is my cow looking like she’s going to attack me? She has a salt block but she is licking the walls like crazy… What’s going on? Why is she walking funny? All of these are questions I have gotten before diagnosing a cow with severe ketosis. Cows with severe ketosis can act extremely neurologic. They are often licking surfaces, walking erratically, can show aggressive behaviors, and can even be down and thrashing around. While it is certainly important to consider diseases like rabies and listeria, severe ketosis is a less common manifestation of a very common dairy cow disease: ketosis. I wanted to bring this disease to your attention because I have seen it pop up on my calls to pasture-based dairies, all having similar predisposing factors and presentation: cows with a Body Condition Score >3.75 and had a long dry period.

posted to Organic Production on Wed, Nov 15, 2023

Words from the Wise: NODPA Field Days Sessions Summaries: Six Principles of Soil Health and Profitability: Putting the Foundations into Practice

By Tamara Scully, NODPA News contributing writer

Sometimes positive change happens when a few brave souls are willing to step out of the stall, ruminate over the business at hand, and implement a plan to grow greener - and more profitable - pastures. By recognizing that business as usual might be the very thing preventing success, these innovators seek to better understand where they are at - and how and why they are there - and to chart an improved path by changing the manner in which business is conducted.

posted to Organic Production on Wed, Nov 15, 2023