The Catskill Grazers Group is hosting a grazing tour to Addison County, Vermont onThursday, June 28. Sponsored by the Watershed Agricultural Council (Council) and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County (CCE-DC), the tour will focus on successful grazing operations for dairy, beef and goat herds.
“We will visit three progressive grazing farms in Western Vermont,” notes Dale Dewing, CCE-DC Field Crop Educator and the Council’s Watershed Extension Team Leader. “We selected these farms because they represent a broad spectrum of approaches to feeding livestock on pasture.” The tour will visit:
· Mountain Meadows Beef Farm in Orwell, VT, which raises pastured beef for Whole Foods Market, selling 400 animals a year. They are GAP 4 level certified as well as certified organic.
· An 80-cow certified organic dairy near Orwell, VT, which uses intensive grazing as the foundation of their feeding system.
· Bardwell Goat Dairy in Pawlet, VT, where they make award-winning cheeses from farm-raised goat milk and cow’s milk procured from a neighboring farm.
Cost for the tour is $15 and includes a box lunch and transportation. Space is limited so please RSVP by Monday June 25. On June 28, the bus tour group will meet at the Watershed Agriculture Program Office, promptly at 6:45 a.m. for check-in and depart on-time at 7:00 a.m. There will be a brief breakfast stop while traveling to Vermont and a stop for supper on the return trip. Breakfast and dinner are on your own. The bus will return to Walton around 8:30 p.m. To sign up, contact Kim Holden at (607) 865-7090 orkmh19@cornell.edu.
The Catskill Grazers Group meets periodically to discuss grass-based issues relating to pasturing livestock. Farmers beginner to seasoned gather quarterly to talk about grazing techniques and best practices and to visit farms near and far to see how others are using grass-based diets to supplement a herd’s dietary needs. The producer group is coordinated by CCE-DC and the Watershed Agricultural Council with funding from New York City Department of Environmental Protection. For more information, visit www.nycwatershed.org and look for the page Agriculture > Farm to Market > Producers/Growers.
For a printable flyer and regional map,click here. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/17671493/Catskill%20Grazers%20Vermont%20Grazing%20Tour%202012.pdf
