Saturday, October 21, 2023, 10:00 am until 12:00 pm
UNH Organic Dairy Research Farm | Lee, NH
One of the best ways to make farming sustainable (as a business and environmentally) is to reduce feed costs by improving forage quality and feed efficiency and producing high-quality, nutrient-dense products for humans’ consumption. At the UNH Organic Dairy Farm many of these forward thinking techniques are being implemented and/or studied with the hope of preventing issues instead of treating them. Hear from UNH extension faculty as they discuss (and showcase) calf care to prevent disease, forage quality to improve nutrition, and research being done to reduce methane emissions. Information will be applicable to all livestock management.
?The Organic Dairy Research Farm is operated by the NH Agricultural Experiment Station and College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, and represents the first of its kind at a land-grant university. It is intended to help the University of New Hampshire explore opportunities for regional dairy producers through research.
?The farm is home to about 100 registered Jersey cows, heifers, and calves. The property consists of 275 acres, of which roughly 120 are woodlands, 100 are crops or forage production, and 55 are pastures. In addition to the working land base, the current operation includes a milking Jersey herd twice a day, step-up four-stall milking parlor, animal, equipment and storage barns, intensive rotational grazing system, numerous wells for water sampling, manure composting wind rows, staff offices, and sample processing space. The farm is managed as an integrated agro-ecosystem that includes the biological, physical and human-related components. As such it offers a platform for research and education across many disciplines. Research priorities are relevant to both organic and conventional farm operations. A primary focus of the farm is to undertake research of relevance to organic farm systems to better serve the organic farming community, consumers, and the environment.
?UNH Extension is staffed by specialists, educators, support personnel and volunteers located in each of the state's 10 counties. UNH Extension works in five broad topic areas: Community and Economic Development, Education & 4-H Youth Development, Food & Agriculture, Health and Well-Being, and Natural Resources. By working in collaboration with county, state and federal governments, UNH Extension is at work in every New Hampshire county, making the state’s key industries stronger, developing vibrant communities and municipal leaders, fostering healthy families and an informed and engaged citizenry, and keeping the state’s natural resources healthy and productive.
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NODPA (Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance) started in February 2001, at a summit meeting of organic dairy producers in the Northeast after one processor arbitrarily threatened to lower their farm gate price and farmers’ future pay price was in jeopardy. NODPA is the largest grass roots organization of organic dairy producers and has remained true to its original goal of advocating on behalf of producers, regardless of who they sold their milk to, for a sustainable pay price plus protect the integrity of the USDA Organic regulations.
Pricing & Registration
Sliding Scale $5-$15 per workshop
NOFA/MOFGA Members and Any Farmer may attend for free
