Hart Dairy: the revolutionary act of returning dairy cows to pasture

Hart Dairy: The Revolutionary Act of Returning Dairy Cows to Pasture

By LeeAnna Tatum

What was once old is new again

What could possibly be revolutionary or groundbreaking about having dairy cows grazing outside on pastures? That’s what cows do, right? They stand around in fields and eat grass. Most of us who live in rural areas are quite familiar with the sight. So, what’s the big deal?

Well, as it turns out, it’s a very big deal.

I recently met up with Dr. Richard Watson (PhD in Animal Nutrition and Grazing Techniques) outside one of Hart Dairy’s three outdoor milking parlors to talk to him about what makes Hart Dairy unique in the industry. And yes, I realize I used the word “outside” twice in that previous sentence and that’s because there’s really not even an “inside” anywhere in sight - that’s how “outside” everything on this dairy is.

(Now, just to clarify for the uninitiated, “dairy” refers to the farm and the cows; once the milk is collected from the cows, it is transported to the “creamery” where the raw milk is processed and packaged. In this article, we are focusing on the dairy. So, obviously, the “creamery” is a very “inside” operation and no cows are involved at that point.)

Richard is originally from New Zealand where animal-based agriculture is, largely by necessity, still pasture-based. Due to its small size and climate, growing grains in sufficient quantities to use as animal feed was simply not practical, so the shift to corn-fed beef and dairy cows was never made.

The same cannot be said of the US.

While most of us (American consumers) still believe the myth that all those joyous bovines are out there frolicking in fields of green, the hard truth is that the dairy industry in the US almost exclusively engages in livestock confinement. Even though dairy cows may have some access to the outdoors, they are primarily fed on cut hay and grain, corn and soy.

This is even true of most dairies that are certified organic. Though with “organic certification” there are some vague requirements for outside access and the feed that is brought in for the cows must be grown and certified organic. Sadly, cows are in most cases, still essentially confined.

Following the end of World War II, agriculture in the United States underwent a major transformation. It was during this time that the industrialization of agriculture took hold and many of the principles that drove the Industrial Revolution 100 years earlier became the governing standards in agriculture as well.

Principles like: the use of emerging technologies (newly available fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides), a focus on efficiency (Confined Animal Feeding Operation), and specialization (monocrops). In and of themselves, these all seemed like positive changes and in the span of one generation, were embraced by most farmers across the US.

It was this shift in agricultural practices that set in motion the progression of cattle - both beef and dairy - from foraging in pastures and grazing on grasses to being confined for long periods and fed a diet heavy in grains (like corn) and cut hay.

Richard explained that following World War II, all the bomb making factories began making amonia nitrate - fertilizer - and an abundance of it! Coupling that with higher yields from hybrids which were first developed in 1929, and the US had a huge surplus of corn.

“The (change in the) industry really developed because of the excess corn,” Richard clarified. “It wasn’t that the best way to have a dairy was to put them (the cows) inside, it was ‘we grew a lot of corn and we have way more corn than we need to feed our people, so … let’s feed it to animals.’ And the best way to feed it to animals was to put them inside and take it to them, since corn is something that’s harvested and processed.”

“Prior to World War II, most of the cattle were outdoors, they were grazing,” he emphasized.

“So, from about the late 1940s (through the present), you’ve got over 70 years of genetic improvement, feed programs, all the science, all the R and D went into that grain system, that housed system. So, the breeding for cattle, all of it, diverged … So, you’ve got a two generation gap in the understanding of grazing cows outdoors. And the cows are genetically so different that really you can’t take an American Holstein and put them on grass and expect them to do well.”

When Richard teamed up with entrepreneur and co-founder Tim Connell, they wanted to establish a dairy that would be pasture-based. For this to work, there are two essential requirements which had to be met - the ability to produce forage on pasture throughout the entire year and the ability to raise dairy cows that could thrive and produce milk on that forage.

To meet the first requirement, the dairy needed to be located in a place with a mild enough climate and enough water to efficiently grow grasses and forage 365 days per year. Clearly, South Georgia fits the bill.

Richard was very familiar with the local climate and grass-growing capabilities of the area due to his years of working with the University of Georgia overseeing grazing research trials and at Mississippi State as the Forage Extension Specialist.

“That was a very valuable experience because it was the interface between technology and farmers,” Richard explained of his time at Mississippi State.

“Getting the practical experience of how things work or don’t work in practice. But also getting an understanding of the potential in the Southeast to grow stuff. It’s the right combination of heat and water and things grow very, very well.”

With his early experience with pasture-based farming in his home country of New Zealand and his acquired experience in the US with growing forage for cattle in the Southeast, Richard began to understand the ripe potential for bringing dairy cows back to the pastures. So in 2007, the first 350 acres were purchased and a New Zealand style open-air milking parlor was built and that was the start of what has since become the Hart Dairy.

But the pastures are just one part of the puzzle.

A dairy needs cows

Unfortunately, as Richard had explained, everything in the dairy industry here in the US had been developed, over the past 70 plus years, to improve milk production from corn-fed cows. And cows that have been bred to do well in confinement while being fed corn have, in effect, been bred to perform poorly for grazing on pastures - in warmer climates.

The American Holstein is the dominant breed within the US dairy industry. The Holstein weighs in at around 1,500 pounds and produces a high volume of milk based on a corn-rich diet. Its size and milk output requires a high rate of metabolism and a large animal with a high metabolism does not do well in the heat and humidity that abounds here in Georgia.

“When we first started out, we really only had access to American (livestock) genetics … we really didn’t have access to the right type of animal, so that was hard,” Richard said. “Trying to develop a grass-based production system with an animal that’s just not suited for it … the best we could do to start out was to have crosses - American Holstein - Jersey crosses.”

“And that provided a smaller animal, a more efficient animal,” he continued. “It was sort of a compromise, it reduced the size and did bring some grazing characteristics to them, but for all intents and purposes, those US genetics were still built around a corn-based diet.”

Richard further explained that even with crossbreeding they were unable to develop a herd that could thrive on a pasture-based system and they knew that they needed to incorporate some genetics from the New Zealand cattle breeds. Working with a NZ company, they began to incorporate those muchneeded grass-grazing genes into their existing herd using AI (artificial insemination).

“We took what we had and kept crossing them with new New Zealand genetics over and over to create this herd which … now going on 15 years … is based (largely) on New Zealand genetics but actually is a Georgia grazing-breed of cattle,” Richard explained.

“And that was one of the critical elements of getting this to work - getting a herd of cows that could thrive in this (pasture-based) system and produce milk.”

The right market for the milk

With both essential elements of a pasture-based dairy system in place, milk production began. But not in its current branded form. In its early years, milk produced on the farm was being sold to a cooperative as a commodity product. There was no “grass-fed” labeling or designation.

In fact, the original driving force for developing a pasture-based dairy was not at all market-driven. At that time, the market for grass-fed products was relatively small and was mostly centered around beef products, not dairy.

“The whole grass-fed thing was more serendipitous than deliberately going out to develop a pasturebased dairy system on a market that has since grown,” Richard admitted. “It was driven by economics in the beginning … what I felt was a lowcost production model - growing grass and having the cow harvest it, it’s more efficient.”

But after producing milk for the commodity market for several good years, prices began to fall and a decision had to be made - continue to lose money, get out of the dairy business or change tactics and capitalize on a small, but growing niche market.

“And after we went through a lot of years of trial and error and developing the breed and developing the right grass system - it took time, it took a lot of effort, a lot of money to get there, and in the end we did. And we had several very good years of just producing commodity milk in an efficient way from these animals.”

“We had the system and there was a growing market for it,” Richard said. “We decided we’d stop producing commodity milk and start developing a branded product … to vertically integrate and take more control over the supply chain. Reconnect with the consumer, and reconnect the consumer with farming. Rather than give up what we developed through blood, sweat and tears over ten years - and that’s really how the brand, Hart Dairy came about.”

So, why does “grass-fed” matter? We’ve covered some of the many reasons why having dairy cows out in pastures and grazing on grass here in the US is so “revolutionary”, but why does it matter? Beyond the bucolic imagery, is it important to anyone (other than the cow herself) that cows spend their days outdoors foraging rather than confined and grain-fed?

The answer to those questions is far more complicated and far-reaching than this writer and this simple article are prepared to go! But to put it simply - it matters!!! And just barely scratching the surface, here are a few of the reasons why.

It matters to the cows themselves and that should matter to us all.

You don’t have to be an animal behavior scientist or welfare activist to wrap your mind around the fact that cows that get to be outside on green grass and breathing fresh air while engaging in the natural, instinctive behaviors that are innate to the very cow-ness of being a cow; are better off than their counterparts who are confined, unable to engage their natural herd behaviors, and fed a diet which goes against their natural grazing instincts.

In terms of animal welfare and humane treatment of cows within the dairy industry, it is hard to imagine that there is really much comparison between the two systems. If I were a cow, I certainly know which one I’d prefer, don’t you?

And happy cows make better milk, right?

It matters to the end product.

It would seem that science seems to be backing that theory. Milk produced from cows that are raised on pastures and enjoy a forage-based diet is nutritionally superior to milk produced from cows that are raised in confinement on a grain-based diet. There is a lot of research out there on this comparison and more of it coming out every day.

Links to a few studies are provided at the end of this article, but the going consensus is that grassfed milk offers benefits like higher amounts of beneficial fatty acids and lower amounts of harmful fatty acids. This healthy to unhealthy fat ratio is significantly different between conventional milk products and grass-fed products. Along with more vitamins and minerals and significantly higher levels of CLA.

From my own personal perspective, it tastes better! Don’t take my word for it, set up your own blind taste test and see if you notice a difference! (There is also market research out there that would indicate I’m hardly alone in my personal preference, but I still suggest you find out for yourself.)

It matters to the soil.

Nature works in cycles. But industrialized agriculture has worked hard to take components out of the cycles where they belong and put them into linear production models. These models require higher levels of inputs and create higher levels of waste, but are admittedly good at producing high output (in terms of quantity).

Having cows on the soil keeps them in the nutrient cycle where they belong - soil, plant, animal, soil, plant, animal, etc. Not only are cows better off and producing a better quality product when allowed to spend their days foraging, as we’ve discussed, but they are also providing a service to the land itself.

There is a great deal of emerging science touting the benefits of regenerative agriculture (farming methods that not only do not harm the environment, but actually help restore it). Reincorporating livestock back onto the land is a primary aspect of regenerative agriculture and it’s becoming clear that grazing cattle can be an important key restoring healthy soils that have long been depleted through tillage and conventional farming methods.

“UGA and the University of Florida did a study on our fields, from the day we got them as row-crop farms and then applied this grass-based or pasturebased production system,” Richard explained regarding the soil cycle on the farm. “We are accumulating carbon at about 3.5 tons per acre per year. So, after about 6 years, the soil carbon or soil organic matter was similar to a virgin forest. It’s not going to keep accumulating at that rate, at some point it reaches an equilibrium but that equilibrium is indicative of a genuine ecological cycle.”

It matters to the environment.

As the above study indicates, cows grazing on pasture does more than simply benefit the soil, pastured cows can also play an important part in carbon sequestration and the reduction of greenhouse gases from our atmosphere.

Wait. Aren’t cows one of the main sources of greenhouse gases?

Like most things in life, the answer is more complicated than a simple “yes” or “no”. There are a

lot of contributing factors. And as you might have guessed by now, cows raised and kept on pastures as opposed to ending up in confined-feeding situations are able to be part of the solution.

All cows, even happy cows on pastures, do produce methane (one of the greenhouse gases). However, the same is true of all ruminants, including the wild ones. But when incorporated into a farm system and allowed to be part of their own natural cycles with the earth, cows can have an important role in actually sequestering more greenhouse gases than they are emitting.

Dig a little deeper

You can learn more about Hart Dairy by visiting their website, hartdairy.com, or find them on social media. You can also listen to this interview in its entirety on The Southern Soil Podcast, the episode is titled “Happy Cows”.

To learn more about the science behind the many benefits of regenerative agriculture and pasturebased animal agriculture - specifically dairy - here are a few links:

The “Grass-Fed” Milk Story: Understanding the Impact of Pasture Feeding on the Composition and Quality of Bovine Milk (2019, Aug 8) National Center for Biotechnology Information https://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6723057/

Grass-fed Cows Produce Healthier Milk University of Minnesota Extension (2021) https://extension. umn.edu/

Can Cows Help Mitigate Climate Change? Yes, They Can! (2018, Dec 19) JSTOR Daily https://daily.jstor. org/can-cows-help-mitigate-climate-change-yesthey-can/