High Quality Forages at the Miller Farm.

The Miller family has been farming here in the Connecticut River Valley for five generations, now operating on 700 acres. They milk just under 200 cows with one of the oldest registered Holstein herds in North America. In addition to their own on-farm fluid milk processing, they ship their milk to Stonyfield Organic. The farm first became certified organic in 2009.

Joining our farm hosts, Peter and Arthur Miller, will be Dr. Heather Darby (UVM Extension), Sarah Flack (independent grazing consultant), Bill Kipp, Nutritionist, Independent Dairy Consultants, and Cheryl Cesario (American Farmland Trust).

The Miller Farm has a strong focus on forage quality for high-quality milk production. Some of the topics we’ll discuss include:

• Strategies for producing top quality forages – in the field and in storage
• Shifting climate patterns and how that affects dormancy
• How cutting height affects forage yield and quality
• The tradeoff between forage quality and soil carbon levels based on cutting height and frequency
• Managing soil fertility to optimize forage yield and quality.
• UVM Extension Northwest Crops & Soils program’s forage variety trial results
• Grazing management in a high organic milk production system

This workshop is a collaboration between American Farmland Trust, Stonyfield Organic, and the Vermont Grass Farmers Association, with funding support from the NRCS Connecticut River Watershed Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)

Also check out other Workshops in Vernon.