By Tamara Scully, NODPA News contributing writer
Hardy Farm has been proud of their registered Ayrshire dairy herd, established in the 1940s. While the Ayrshires rule the roost, the herd also has registered Holsteins. But the Ayrshire genetics are the farm’s “strong point,” Henry Hardy said, and “we are well known for the genetics now, and we sell quite a bit.” Just don’t tell that to the 18 current Holsteins, which are “about 20 too many,’ joked his wife, Teresa. The Holsteins were acquired “due to a 4-H project gone awry.”
Ayrshires are definitely the favored breed here. They show several cows per year, however four or five cows per year go to the bigger, national shows. In fact, the high-genetic Ayrshires have become a family focus, as the couple works with their daughter, Marjorie, to enhance the dairy’s Ayrshire genetics. They also consult daughter Ashlie and other Ayrshire breeders to continually improve their herd genetics. The herd’s classification average is VG-87 points for the Ayrshires, and VG-86 points for the Holsteins. They do not purchase any cows, primarily due to their certified organ herd status.Ayrshire sales are direct to interested buyers, and cows are also consigned to sales. The sales are also a means of diversifying the income stream, hedging against those times when milking the cows isn’t a moneymaker.
Those Ayrshires became important when Henry’s dad began seeking Bang’s disease- free cows in the 1940s, when brucellosis was a common concern. Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that has mostly since been eradicated in the United States. It causes abortion, sickly calves, retained afterbirth, poor conception, joint swelling and decreased milk production. In order to begin a dairy herd illness free, he mixed and matched some Guernsey and Holsteins, but really preferred those Ayrshires.
Although the dairy is known for prime Ayrshire genetics, “the genetics is the hobby,” while the dairy is the primary business, Henry said. But breeding cows to enhance the genetics is simply a part of producing high-quality milk, and not a separate line of business. While most of the current herd has been shown, not all of them are good enough for the big shows. Teresa estimates that ten percent of the cows are in the top genetic tier, while others have competed locally. Every cow is bred for type, production and longevity. "Just because they are a show cow doesn’t mean they get any more pampering than the rest of the herd,” Teresa said.
Finding accolades on the show circuit has led to the selling of some of these high genetic cows each year. They recently sold five cows at a sale in Rutland, Vermont. The demand for organic Ayrshire cows is there and is growing, as the dominant breed of cow being milked in the United States - organically or not - is Holstein.
But for grazing ability and organic milk production, the Ayrshires are better. Their milk tends to have more total solids, fat and protein. The breed tends to be hardier - no pun intended - and more vigorous. They are better at turning forage into milk, and are aggressive grazers, unlike most Holsteins, who simply prefer to be fed than to find their own forages, Henry said. Ayrshires eagerly graze, and are a pretty cow.
Their animal sales are direct marketed from the barn. They have more demand for cows than cows for sale. This year, they sold more than they have in the past, selling 14 total animals. And the demand has not stopped. They are on Facebook and other social media sites and have sold cows to breeders all over the country.
The Hardy’s artificially inseminate almost the entire herd. They most recently borrowed a bull two years ago, from daughter Marjorie, when they had a hard time settling a group of heifers, Teresa said. They do some embryo work, and have flushed some cows in the past. They also co-own a few cows with Marjorie, and those cows have been flushed, and they’ve used those embryos.
“With the Ayrshires, we have to base our selection on the pedigree as far as cow family and bulls coming from select farms and cows, because numbers aren’t reliable in the Ayrshire bull proofs,” Teresa said. Holstein genetics are selected for high fat, high solids, and the red and white coloring, which she prefers.
Milk averages 4.0 percent fat, and 3.1 percent protein. The average cow age is 6.3 years old, and 47 percent of the herd is five years or older. The rolling herd average for the Holsteins is 17,703 pounds of milk, and is 15, 152 pounds of milk for the Ayrshires.
Hardy Farm had a herd of 35 cows when Henry and Teresa - who have been married for 38 years - joined the dairy, farming with his parents until his father’s death in 1991. They have been expanding the herd, keeping all of their replacement heifers, and clearing more of the farm’s wooded acreage - with its preponderance of rocks - for increased pasture and hay ground as needed.
The dairy now has a total herd of 115 animals. The 400 acre farm has 135 acres of open land, 60 acres of which are permanent pasture, and 75 acres of cropland with all but 30 acres of that being used for pasture by the end of the season. They also rent another 75 acres for hay, and 25 acres of pasture.
The cows were originally housed in a tie-stall barn, built in 1953, which the couple gutted just over 10 years ago. The oldest part of this barn had small 3.5 feet by 5 feet stalls, and cows were getting injured. In 2012, they turned this into a double five swingline herringbone milking parlor, complete with a holding area. They then built a new freestall barn with 30 stalls, and an option to do another 30 in a mirror image if needed, and which was built completed in 2018.
They’ve been milking in the parlor since May 2012, and the cows are so much healthier. They have no injuries, the incident of feet issues has decreased dramatically, and hocks and legs are looking good now that the cows can freely move around.
When it’s time to milk, slow cows, as well as later lactation cows, are separated from the rest of the 60 cow milking herd, and put into the remaining 1970s era tie stalls - which are bigger than the old demolished ones - to wait their turn. This way, the slow and low cows are milked as a group and don’t hold up the rest, increasing efficiency.
Eliminating the old tie-stall also meant a positive change in their feeding strategy. They now feed round baleage, using a skid steer, in the freestall. The old tie-stall had made it difficult to feed the round bales.
When milk prices weren’t covering expenses in the early 2000s, the Hardy’s “needed to figure out how to be sustainable,” Henry said. They had been juggling bills and struggling to keep afloat, when others in their area told them that the organic market was strong.
They were already grazing cows and those cows were getting a decent amount of dry matter intake from the pasture, so having enough pasture available wasn’t a concern. They couldn’t grow their own grains on the farm’s rocky grounds, so they purchased what they needed for fodder. They were able to find certified organic grain to replace conventional sources. They already were focused on growing quality hay and pasture, so they had good quality forages.
“The farm’s focus is on the health and longevity of the cows, and on milk components rather than volume production”, Henry said. Even when conventional, they didn’t often use antibiotics and they weren’t using natural hormones for optimizing cycles and supporting reproduction. The transition really didn’t require any significant changes.
They opted into organics, and began shipping certified organic milk, through Horizon, in 2003. They shipped to Horizon until 2015, when Organic Valley began opening up routes in their area. They switched over just prior to the period when Horizon began dropping Northeast producers.
They actually saw an increase in milk production once they made the transition to certified organic. As nothing else really changed on the dairy, it seems the certified organic grain may have had a positive impact on milk production. As organic rules changed, and the DMI from pasture was set at a minimum of 30 percent year-round, they did eventually need to expand pasture as the herd itself grew.
Some dry hay and baleage is fed to the milking herd as they graze, in order to slow down their digestion a bit, Henry said. During the non-grazing season, cows are fed three bales of baleage per day. They rotate the cuttings - utilizing first, second and third cuttings each day. Being paid on milk solids means it’s important to keep up with the hay.
The herd gets some grain supplementation in the milking parlor. They use a high-energy grain concentrate from Morrison’s.
The grazing season for the milk cows runs from May first through the second week of November, typically. They are outside on pasture 24/7 except for twice per day milking, at 6am and 5pm. Dry cows remain on pasture until January first, where they are fed baleage, and then are moved to a compost bedded pack. Heifers are put on rented land further away, and begin grazing at the end of April.
In the non-grazing season, the milking herd is housed in the freestall barn, with open access to the heavy use area concrete pad. The free-stall barn is bedded with dry shavings in the winter and a sand base in the warmer months. “The cows prefer the shavings in the winter months,” Teresa said.
Calves are tied in front of the holding pen until they are trained to the bucket. Then, while still on milk, the calves are moved to individual stalls. On good weather days, these calves are led to a 12 foot by 12 foot “playpen” for the day. Calves are started on two quarts of milk twice per day for two days, which is increased to three quarts twice per day until they are on the bucket, and increased again to four quarts of milk twice per day. Once they are two months old, they are then cut back to two quarts of milk twice per day. Calves are weaned at 12 weeks of age.
Calves are also offered free choice hay and 18 percent grain. Once the calves eat all of the grain, the amount of grain is increased to three pounds per day. The grain is top-dressed with soybean meal for additional protein.
Once off milk, the calves rotate throughout the small pens in the tie stall barn. When they are old enough, they are moved to a compost bedded pack barn, where they are trained to a hot fence, and have some pasture where they can roam and graze.
Pre-bred heifers, beginning at about seven months of age, as well as some open heifers and dry cows, are winter housed on the compost bedded pack, which is divided in half and shared with the calves. In summer, older heifers and dry cows pasture together.
The compost bedded pack is cleared out each summer and left to “cook” before it is spread on newly cleared fields, where it helps build up the organic matter. Manure from the barns is scraped into a pit, and ultimately spread on hay fields or pastures.
The biggest health issue in the herd is mastitis. They keep their somatic cell count below 150,000, and are “paid on quality,” so anything more than a mild case results in the cow being culled, Henry said. They vaccinate with J-VAC® coliform mastitis vaccine when cows dry off. Young stock is vaccinated with Triangle® vaccine, for protection from respiratory disease, as are all show cows.
When they have too many calves and things get crowded, scours or respiratory issues can arise. They have noticed that E. coli can also occur when stalls get crowded, and recently did have an issue in a calf pen, but a quick response and thorough cleaning and sanitizing of the calf pen resolved the issue. Getting the calves outside as soon as possible has also helped keep diseases at bay.
Milk fever, or hypocalcemia, is rare, but they can treat it with calcium, and calving issues do occur, but are not common. Otherwise, they don’t have many issues with herd health, and will “take it as it comes,” Henry said.
Teresa and Henry do most of the work on the farm themselves, with one older gentleman and two or three younger teenagers who regularly assist with milking or chores, and family available nearby to pitch in if needed.
The Hardy’s have had Sarah Flack help them improve their pasture and forages, and continue to learn and perfect their intensive rotational grazing. They have fixed paddocks, and also use temporary wire fencing to divide those paddocks when needed. They have increased the number of paddocks, and worked with Sarah on stocking density rates. They continue to strive to improve pasture yields, improve pasture nutrition, increase the DMI the cows get from pasture, and increase the herd health through intensive pasture grazing. The decisions they make on when to move cows “depends on so many things,” Henry said. “There are a lot of things that factor into it. Get the best use of pasture that you can.”
The milking herd changes pasture after each milking. They have night pastures near the barn, and day pastures across the road. They also hay these pastures as needed. If the pasture - particularly the faster growing orchard grass fields - get ahead of the cows, they will take hay off of them. They will also take second cuttings of hay if needed. Pastures are a combination of orchard grass, timothy, rye grass, Kentucky bluegrass and a variety of clovers.
They frost seed a clover into some of the pastures as they need it, but “maybe I shouldn’t tell all my secrets,” Henry stated, jokingly. Seriously, however, they try to grow pasture that can provide “whatever the cows need. They are the dictators of what we do and how much they get. We always strive to make things better.”
The Hardy’s have some proof that their grazing efforts are working, and that their forages are top quality. Their dry hay was just announced as the first place winner in the first ever Maine Hay Contest.
“Raising our own protein is much more cost-effective than buying it in,” Henry said. “We put up really good forage. We’re after energy, and to retain body weight,” therefore their fed grain is 12 percent protein with high energy, year-round. They also sell a fair amount of feed to local farms and horse owners.
Henry is concerned that something is missing in the organic industry: Competition. He is concerned that in his neck of the woods, Stonyfield is buying milk from Organic Valley, so they are basically the same thing. Horizon notoriously left the area. Losing the competition negatively affects producers. “You need competition to help the pay price,” he said.
Organic grain is another example of lack of competition. The Hardy's purchase high-quality grain, but if that outfit decides to no longer deliver to Maine, what would happen? In the past, they had a much lower quality grain source, with few if any other options in their region. Henry reports that a group of farmers in the region purchased an old grain mill with the hope of restoring it and rebuilding some infrastructure needed in the area, but it became too costly to do so.
He also feels that the pay price for organic milk is no longer matching the demand for the product. “They want increased milk production, but don’t want to pay for it,” he said of the organic dairy industry.
The Hardy’s know that unless they hang on until their grandchildren are old enough and might decide to become dairy farmers, they will have to have a different succession plan. They have been working with the Dairy Grazing Apprentice program, but have yet to find a good fit. One apprentice was wonderful, and stayed with them for two years, but decided that dairy farming wasn’t going to be her career. Another candidate simply was not cut out for dairy farming.
In order to spread the word and educate the community about dairy farming, the Hardy’s host a variety of farm tours for local schools and colleges in the area. Through their son, who attended University of New Hampshire, they became a regular part of the New England Working Farms tour, and every four or five years students from colleges all over New England tour their dairy farm.
Teresa takes dairy cows to schools to show to the children, and they walk some calves in the local parade. She is also on the Maine Dairy Promotion Council, while Henry serves on the Farm Bureau, Farm Service Agency and the Soil and Water Conservation Boards, and the farm is involved with Farm Bureau, Farm Service Agency and with the Soil and Water Conservation District. “We try to be a positive influence of agriculture in the community,” she said. “We are involved in a bunch of different things.”
The farm was honored by the Maine Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2019. They have won superior quality milk production awards from Dairy Farmers of America. The Hardy’s were the Maine Dairy Farm Family of the Year in 2011. Other awards received throughout the years include those for pasture quality, and for breeding.
One new venture on the farm is Teresa’s farm stand, which will officially open next summer. She’s been making salves, soaps and lotions from cows’ milk and natural ingredients such as local beeswax and honey for her grandchildren, some of whom have allergies and skin conditions. And they have made a big difference, improving the conditions and providing soothing relief. She is now going to be crafting these items for direct market retail sale, right from the farm.
Not only will this diversify income streams, it will further connect the farm to the community, and educate folks about the positive impact family organic dairy farms can contribute to their neighbors’ wellbeing. The mission statement on their website sums up their focus on agriculture and outreach: “Standards exceeding the industry. Visitors always welcome.”
The Hardy Farm is located at 360 Weeks Mills Road, Farmington, Maine 04938. Henry can be reached at 207-491-6789, and Teresa can be reached at 207-491-8667. Their email and website are: hardyayrshires67@gmail.com, and www.hardyfarm.weebly.com
Posted: to Featured Farms on Sun, Jan 12, 2025
Updated: Sun, Jan 12, 2025