By Tamara Scully, NODPA News contributing writer
Father and son Peter and Jeremy Mapstone are partners in their Manlius, New York family dairy farm, Pastureland Dairy, which was established in 1944 by Peter’s father. In 1987, when Peter came home to the farm, the 60 head herd was a confined dairy herd of large Holsteins.Peter realized early on that grazing was the key to healthy, productive and profitable dairy farming. Peter immediately put cows on pasture, and “never looked back,” Jeremy said, becoming a prominent early adaptor of dairy grazing more than three decades ago. Peter was on the forefront of the rotational grazing movement, and the addition of crossbreeding with Jersey genetics around the time component pricing came out, led to “smaller, increased mobility cows,” which thrived on rotational grazing, Jeremy said.
The farm transitioned to organic in 2007, after being operated as a conventional grazing dairy, when trusted others in the industry convinced Peter that organic dairy farming wasn’t much different from what he was already successfully doing: making milk on grass. Most of the pastures and hay ground were able to be transitioned immediately. Some of the crop ground needed to undergo the three year transition period.
He was “pretty much making milk from primarily grass, whether from pasture or harvested haylage” and “management didn’t have to change a heck of a lot,” Jeremy said. “The DMI from pasture didn’t need to change at all, as he was already trying to maximize grass intake.
Today, this family dairy is continuing for the next generation. Peter and Jeremy - who returned to the farm in 2015 - are partners in the dairy. They are the primary labor, along with six full-time employees who milk and do barn chores. Peter is in charge of the crops and machinery, while Jeremy is the herd manager, in charge of employees, cows and breeding. The division of labor is “the way we make it work.”
“As soon as I left for college, it didn’t take me very long to realize that I couldn’t see myself doing anything else,” Jeremy said of his departure from the farm to attend Mansfield University in northern Pennsylvania on a baseball scholarship. He had dreams of a non-farming life and was studying human nutrition. “It was not a decision I took lightly, but one that I haven’t regretted for a second.”
After graduation, Jeremy, like his father before him, jumped right into making changes on the farm, mapping the plan to improve the dairy, positioning it to continue for yet the next generation. Peter had been managing the farm alone for years following his own father’s death, and he needed help. Jeremy spoke Spanish fluently and was able to communicate with their full-time workers effectively. And he was eager to make changes to the breeding program and take over the herd’s management.
Today, the partnership between father and son has captured their combined forward momentum and ability to discern just what is needed to make their organic dairy farm work more efficiently, and profitably.
The Mapstone’s dairy today consists of 1400 acres, 500 of which are pasture and 900 dedicated to tillable crops. They grow corn for silage on 200 acres, have 200 acres of triticale, with the remainder of land in grass, clover and alfalfa haylage. They grow all of their own forages for their 650 cow herd which includes 375 milking and dry cows, and 275 youngstock. The herd grew slowly over the years, as did the acreage to support this ever-evolving dairy.
In the years before and right after Jeremy returned to the farm, there was land nearby for sale that they were already renting. As they purchased the land that was necessary to support the herd, their debt load increased. In order to effectively be able to service the debt, along with continuing to run a viable farm business, it quickly become necessary to increase milk production, therefore increasing net farm income from milk sales.
However, when they kicked up the grain in the ration, many cows didn’t respond well. Jeremy reasoned that improving their milk production by focusing on better genetics would be one tool they could use to continue to remain competitive and profitable. “We had a portion of our herd that more closely resembled beef cows than dairy cows,” Jeremy said.
The breeding program had always been based on using herd bulls, and year-round calving, with an uptick in October and again in March. Through the years, Peter had opted to mix in Ayrshire, Milking Shorthorn and plenty of other grazing genetics, pretty much “experimenting with everything” to breed the best grazing cow for their farm.
The goal of the breeding program today is to keep the components high and increase milk production. Jeremy’s focus on genetics began with a switch to artificial insemination for the months the cows were in the barn. He started breeding with sexed Holstein semen and eventually added some beef semen. He wanted better Holstein genetics, and to increase milk production, but he needed good grazing ability, too. They already had good component levels.
The Mapstones practice mob grazing, with one big group of cows grazing together in the summer months. They graze day and night, on pastures that are permanently fenced.
Because the farm has been on the forefront of grazing the milking herd even prior to their 2007 grazing transition, they have a very good handle on how much grass is needed for the herd, based on the time of day and the time of year. They do have one 70 acre portion of the pasture system that they take hay off of and then open up for grazing later in the summer as needed. There is just one large perimeter fence around this block, so it can be broken down into smaller appropriately sized pieces based on the conditions.
New pasture is provided to the herd after every milking. They graze a smaller area during the daylight, and move into a larger area in the evening and overnight. The herd’s grazing increases between 6pm and 3am, so they maximize their ability to consume pasture by milking at 3am and 2pm daily. Milking takes about three hours to complete, and the cows are then afforded an hour to consume a fed ration in the barn. Cows receive a fed ration of haylage mixed with corn silage and a small amount of dry corn in the barn after each milking.
“We add haylage as the grass slows. The goal is to keep their stomachs full,” Jeremy said. “We try to maximize our production in the barn during the months the cows aren’t grazing, and we also try to maximize production and get the most from pasture May through October.”
During the non-grazing season, they divide the herd into four groups. The high-producing cows; the lower producing late lactation or already pregnant cows; a mix of 2 year olds and smaller cows; and a hospital group for any sick or fresh cows.
“We have the ability now to groups cows based on their needs,” Jeremy said of the winter groupings. The amount of grain in the ration will vary based on the needs of each group.
The farm boasts “well-established pasture for thirty-plus years,” with a healthy mix of Kentucky blue grass, orchard grass and white clover. Proper fertility keeps the pastures productive, and they do very little reseeding or pasture renovation.
The triticale “fits in really well with our organic crop rotation,” Jeremy said. It is a cover crop after corn, coming up in the fall, and it feeds similar to cornmeal, helping to stretch out purchased grain. It is a grain source that doesn’t need to be cultivated, unlike corn or soy beans, and it is harvested on the farm for both grain and straw for bedding.
Water is available in each pasture, but it isn’t from the four wells on the farm. The wells run at an extremely slow flow rate and are barely able to keep up with farm’s utility needs. On pasture, the water comes from a large pond - built by Peter - which is gravity feed down to the cow pastures. Pastures that are above the elevation of the pond are fed from another pond via a solar pump, which is a relatively new system, and one which seems to work very well.
When Peter took over the herd, they milked in one stanchion barn and had a small freestall. He added a straight 8 flat barn parlor in 1995, which the farm has since expanded to a double 10. The lactating herd is housed in an insulated freestall barn, which was built in 2011 and added onto in 2021. The original freestall on the farm is used to house dry cows and also has some maternity pens. The free stalls are all sand bedded, which enhances cow comfort, and contributes to a lower somatic cell count, but makes for more difficult manure management due to difficulties with sand/manure separation.
The farm was daily manure spreading up until two years ago. The soils on the farm are very shallow to shale soils, and it was quite challenging to engineer a manure pit, and very expensive. With grant money, they were able to construct a pit, which has much improved their quality of life. Before the pit, they had to spread 24/7, 365 days of the year, rain or shine.
In 2023, a 2.2 million gallon concrete manure lagoon was built, and the liquid manure can be stored and spread “when required, and at rates according to our CAFO plan,” Jeremy said. They scrape the lactating herd manure directly into the pit, and the manure from the older freestall is pumped with a hydraulic piston pump. They use a pump and crawler to agitate the mixture before it is time to spread, insuring that the sand remains in suspension with the liquid manure.
The herd SCC averages below 100,000 in the winter and increases slightly when on pasture. Year-round, the SCC averages 100,000. The milk protein is 3.1 percent year-round, with 4.6 percent butterfat in the winter and 4.0 during the grazing season. Milk production is currently at a rolling yearly herd average of 18,500 pounds of milk. The average per cow production in winter is 70 pounds per day, with less production as the pasture season heads into the middle and end of summer.
Compared to 2015, when the rolling herd average was 12,500 pounds, Jeremy’s focus on genetics and changes in overall management has led to enhanced per cow production, decreased cull rate, and overall enhanced profitability on the farm.
When Peter was managing the farm on his own, he tended to raise all the heifer calves. He would sell the surplus as springers. It worked during years that the market for organic heifers was strong and helped to diversify the farm’s income stream. After engaging with farm consultants and business planners in 2015, it became clear that this practice was now actually costing the farm money, and was no longer profitable. “It is so expensive to raise an organic heifer to calving age, that unless we were getting top dollar for her to be sold as a springer, the math just didn’t add up,” Jeremy said. At this same time, Organic Valley implemented a quota system, based on prior years' production, just before Jeremy came home. This quota made it extremely unprofitable to raise any animals except the ones needed to maintain herd size.
Raising too many heifers is a “labor draw,” and feeding additional calves also requires a sacrifice of milk. They divert milk from the bulk tank, pasteurize it using a milk taxi for the calves They try to calve heavy in the early spring and the fall, to “capitalize on winter pay price premiums and also on spring grass,” Jeremy said.
They calve heavily in September, October and November, then start again in March. At six months of age, the calves go out onto pasture. The calves are raised in a calf barn and a few overflow hutches. The calf barn has side-by-side individual mesh cages. The calves are fed milk for 12 weeks, and are also fed starter grain. Near weaning, baleage is added.
Calves are moved into group housing upon weaning. This housing is a “pitfall” of their system, and something they will address with a heifer barn project underway for this summer. The group pens are spread across the farm, adding to labor needs. Calf pens are bedded with the farm’s own triticale straw, which is also used to bed a free stall barn for heifers at breeding age. “We don’t want to tax our facilities,” by raising more calves than they need. The goal is to raise between 15-20 calves per month on average, and “sell anything beyond that number as wet calves,” Jeremy said.
Calf health is overall very good, and they don’t lose many calves. The biggest calf health issue is with infrequent scours or respiratory issues. This winter was cold and harsh, and they did have an increase in these issues. At birth calves receive Inforce®, and also Bovalis Once PMH® for pneumonia protection at one week of age. They also use MULTIMIN® at weaning.
Prior to Jeremy’s return, Peter was only vaccinating the calves. “This allowed me to take a close look at the role vaccines could play in our lactating cows,’” Jeremy said. Because a vaccine protocol can be expensive, the goal was to only add necessary ones to promote wellness and make economic sense. Their focus is on prevention.
They now vaccinate heifers for pink eye when they are on pasture, as there is no effective organic treatment, and they vaccinate cows at dry-off with Triangle 10®. A booster of Inforce® or NasalGen to protect against Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus, Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus (BRSV), Parainfluenza 3 virus (PI3), Mannheimia haemolytica is also used at barn up in the fall.
When it comes to mastitis treatments, they have tried “almost every one out there,” but today use a select few that Jeremy feels do the job. These include Dr. Paul’s supplements, partiularly CEG Tincture, OLS-M Tincture for respiratory concerns, and a calcium supplement.
Mastitis is the most prevalent issue in the cows. As there aren’t many affordable or effective organic treatments, Jeremy relies on a strict milking protocol to keep any issues in check. They are meticulous about teat cleanliness. If mastitis persists in a quarter, they will shut it down for that lactation.
The farm’s veterinarian from Midstate Veterinary Services is a valued asset. For many years, they didn’t use a vet regularly. Peter’s long-term veterinarian retired about the time the herd transitioned to organic. Once they went organic, they saw improved health, and Peter provided organic therapies as needed. When Jeremy became a partner in 2015, he began to implement veterinary pregnancy checks and physical exams once or twice per month or as needed.
The Mapstones use Farm Credit business planners and financial advisors, and meet twice per year to review the state of their farm, and their budgets. They also participate in the Dairy Farm Business Summary with Cornell Universities Pro-Dairy and are a part of an Organic Dairy Discussion Group, with nine other New York farms. This type of benchmarking and discussion has enabled them to make better financial decisions, and is an invaluable resource.
The farm is limited by its pasture acreage, as they aim for 75 to 80 percent dry matter intake from grazing during the high season, typically ending the summer around 40 percent DMI. Grazing is “really important to us,” Jeremy emphasized, and the goal is to maximize the herd size based on the acreage they have, while maintaining DMI well above the required 30 percent. “We would max out this location at 400 cows due to acreage and DMI,” Jeremy said. “That is the limit to what our pasture acres could handle.”
In 2023, they began milking high production cows three times per day. Along with nutritional support - they value their nutritionist from Rapp Dairy Nutrition - the additional milking per day has led to an increase in per cow milk production of about 10 pounds in that group. “Our nutritionist is really important to us,” Jeremy said. The nutritionist samples their forages, and decides how to optimize the fed ration to maximize health and production based on forage analysis. The nutritionist also provides a mineral package designed for the herd.
Peter and Jeremy have been challenged over the years by people on farm tours asking about differences between conventional and organic milk.
“Milk as a whole is obviously nutritionally fantastic,” Jeremy said, and “nothing should take away from that.” However, we have also learned over the years that milk from grazing herds tends to be even higher in Omega 3 fatty acids, CLA and ALA, which to us is just an added bonus. “The bottom line is, if consumers want it, we are happy to produce it.”
Jeremy would like to see the organic dairy industry safeguard organic farming practices and improve oversight. “I feel strongly that it is important to maintain the integrity of the organic movement, you’ve got to have some teeth behind it,” he said of organic standards.
Pastureland Dairy recently began shipping to Upstate Niagara Cooperative. Upstate Niagara Cooperative supplies milk for Wegmans grocery stores and is focused on supporting family dairy farms in the region. Upstate Niagara was offering more money for the milk at the time, so it made financial sense. Along with their neighbor, Tre-G Farms, they were able to switch as Upstate Niagara was able to justify the extra trailer load of milk they’d get from adding the two farms, which are less than five miles apart.
“Our business model felt more closely aligned with Upstate Niagara,” and after 17 years with Organic Valley, they started shipping to their new cooperative in the fall of 2023.
The farm also recently diversified its income stream, adding a wedding and event venue. It is a means of insuring that the farm can remain for future generations. Jeremy’s father and stepmother purchased a piece of land just prior to the 2020 pandemic. They remodeled a mid-1800s era farmhouse into an Airbnb that sleeps 14, and a barn into a venue hall. Jeremy’s sister had the first wedding there, and his was the second. So truly it is a family affair, and now a moneymaking venture.
“Dairy can be volatile and cyclical,” Jeremy said. Ensuring that dairy, alone, isn’t the only source of income for the family’s farm is prudent. Watervale Ridge - the event venue - is a part of the family farm’s future.
Jeremy’s wife, Stephanie, and newborn son; his father and stepmother and their three young children; his sister and brother-in-law, along with other assorted relatives are all important to the farm, pitching in whenever needed and making the farm “a full family effort,” he said.
While the farm is evolving, Pastureland Dairy’s goal of producing nutritious milk from healthy, grazing cows remains the backbone of all that they do. Ten years after his return to the farm to continue the family’s legacy of dairy farming, Jeremy is certain that it was the right thing for him to do. He values the grazing dairy philosophy which his father implemented, and which is the basis of their farming philosophy. “We believe in farming the way we do and that is the bottom line.”
Jeremy Mapstone can be reached at Pastureland Dairy, 8062 #2 Rd W, Manlius (village), New York, 13104, 315-350-8081.
Posted: to Featured Farms on Sat, May 17, 2025
Updated: Sat, May 17, 2025
