Does Modernization Mean Industrialization? The Case for Grass-Based
Dairy Farming.
Francis Thicke
Phone: 641-472-8554
Email: fthicke@kdsi.net
Agriculture is changing rapidly. Profit margins for farmers are being increasingly
squeezed, in part by the growing concentration and consolidation of input suppliers and
buyers of agricultural commodities.1 As a result, farmers are being forced to become
ever more efficient in order to survive financially.
In the world of dairy production, “modernization” has become the byword for increased
efficiency. Dairy publications frequently publish feature articles on how to modernize
dairy farms. Some of the reoccurring themes associated with dairy modernization
include: 1) increasing the number of cows per farm; 2) building new confinement
facilities; 3) adopting sophisticated mechanized systems for milking, crop harvesting,
feeding and manure handling; and 4) looking outside the farm for sources of capital,
management and labor. In short, dairy modernization has become synonymous with
dairy industrialization.
For example, a recent dairy magazine2 featured two farms that had “modernized.” One
dairy expanded from 45 cows to 400; the other grew from 80 cows to 550. Like most
large dairy operations, the cows in these expanded herds were moved into newly built
confinement housing facilities—known to the public as Confinement Animal Feeding
Operations (CAFOs). CAFOs are becoming increasingly unpopular to the public because
they have become notorious for producing offensive odors, flies, and manure spills that
pollute streams and kill fish.
The large increase in size of dairies undergoing this type of “modernization” requires a
division of sources of capital, management, and labor, a common feature of industrialized
agriculture. Farm families who previously supplied most of the farm capital,
management and labor are turned into general managers when they
modernize/industrialize. Mid-level managers must be recruited to manage various
aspects of the dairy, such as milking, calf rearing, nutrition and herd health. A labor pool
must be maintained and managed to complete all daily tasks. Recruiting and retaining
labor can be difficult for large dairy operations, and dairy publications frequently run
articles on how to recruit, train, and manage Hispanics to serve as the labor force on large
dairies. Major expansion also takes a lot of capital, often requiring outside investing into
what previously had been a family-owned farm.
1
Mary Henderickson, William D. Heffernan, Philip H. Howard and Judith Heffernan. 2001. Consolidation
in Food Retailing and Dairy: Implications for Farmers and Consumers in a Global Food System.
www.foodcircles.missouri.edu/consul.htm
2
Curbing Dairy’s Decline. Dairy Today. August 2002. www.agweb.com.
Is the industrial model the only possibility for modern, efficient dairy farming? To the
contrary, there is another dairy model that can be equally modern and efficient: a grassbased dairy system. The fundamental concept underlying grass-based dairy farms is that
a well-designed grazing system can efficiently utilize cows’ natural capability to harvest
forages from pastures, circumventing the need for elaborate forage harvesting, storage
and feeding systems, and CAFO housing and manure storage facilities. That means
grass-based dairy systems are much less expensive to construct and operate and can be
more energy-efficient and environmentally sound than CAFOs.
Does that mean that dairy grazing systems are a return to the horse and buggy era? Not at
all. Modern grazing systems use the latest research-based information on forage
varieties, management, and utilization. For example, at land-grant universities plant
breeders are developing improved varieties of forages that perform well under intensive
grazing management conditions. Agronomists are studying management strategies to
improve forage productivity. And animal scientists are looking at ways to optimize the
nutrition and genetics of grazing animals. Additionally, much of the knowledge base of
modern grazing dairies has come from graziers themselves and is shared among them
through farmer grazing networks. This knowledge base is embedded in the design and
management of a modern grass-based dairy farm.
What is the operational difference between a CAFO and a grass-based dairy? In an
industrial-style CAFO dairy, cows are confined to an area near the milking facility.
Forage for the cows must be harvested in a distant field, transported to storage and then
fed to the cows. Then, the manure from the cows must be collected and stored and
eventually hauled back to the fields. By contrast, in a well-designed, state-of-the-art
grazing dairy, after each milking the cows are allowed access to a pasture paddock of just
the right size to provide the optimum amount of high-quality forage to feed the cows until
the next milking. The cows harvest their own forage by grazing, and in the process
spread their manure back on the land to serve as fertilizer for regrowth of the pasture
forages. This “post-industrial” dairy system saves energy, labor and investment in
expensive equipment in comparison with the industrial CAFO model.
Are grazing dairy farms profitable? In an analysis of the profitability of grazing and
confinement dairy farms over six years in Wisconsin and New York, Tom Kriegl (2002)
found grazing dairies to be more profitable per cow and per hundred pounds of milk
produced than confinement dairies. Because less capital is required for farm
infrastructure and operation, farm families are able to make a living on grass-based
dairies with less investment, less debt and fewer cows.
In a study of 15 young or beginning dairy farmers over two years, Ag Connect
based dairy business with as little as $50,000 on as few as 40 acres, and that a 160 acre
farm could produce a gross income of up to $1,000 an acre.3 Ag Connect concluded that
the small grass-based dairies they studied “can be a great benefit in their communities,
3
Leopold Center Project Shows Promise for Grass-Based Dairies.
http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/dairy_040803.html.
bringing new families to the area and producing more income from the land.”
Converting to a grass-based dairy is an alternative modernization opportunity for dairy
farmers that can enable them to become more efficient and profitable without undergoing
major expansion. Many modest-sized grazing dairies of 50 to 100 cows are providing a
good living for the farm families that own and run them. Simple math shows that 20 to
40 of these family farms can be displaced by one 2,000-cow CAFO dairy. Arguably,
grass-based dairies are a better alternative to industrial-style CAFOs: better for the
environment, better for farm families and better for rural communities.
Reference:
Kriegl, Tom. 2002. Great Lakes Grazing Network Fact Sheet #5: Grazing vs.
Confinement Farms. http://cdp.wisc.edu