http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20090307/NEWS02/903070343/1003/NEWS

In addition to addressing an underserved portion of the region with animal processing needs, I think the slaughterhouse has brought to the surface public questions about whether we, as a town or community, really want to support local agriculture. An incredibly important link in the farmer-animal-food-consumer cycle is the ability to process animals (to meet the customers' needs) in a way that is fair to both the producer and the processor, and treats the animals themselves with respect.

I think it's very exciting that such a group of interested individuals and organizations has been working to bring back the small, small regional slaughterhouse. I don't know how the selectboard vote turned out Tuesday (March 10), but I do hope significant public support has been shown. Each facility that opens and is able to stay in business is another link in the local food chain, enabling commercial farmers shipping animals weekly, and small direct sale producers to ship annually, quarterly or seasonally. The diversity of farm size and the changing seasonal needs also speak to the importance of keeping our slaughterhouses open and financially viable.

This all seems appropriate, on a day when I've just shipped my own pigs to market.

Jenn

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have found evidence of a novel pathway for potential human exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria from intensively raised poultry—driving behind the trucks transporting broiler chickens from farm to slaughterhouse. A study by the Hopkins researchers found increased levels of pathogenic bacteria, both susceptible and drug-resistant, on surfaces and in the air inside cars traveling behind trucks that carry broiler chickens. The study is the first to look at exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria from the transportation of poultry. The findings are published in the first issue of the Journal of Infection and Public Health.

Typically, broiler chickens are transported in open crates on the back of flatbed trucks with no effective barrier to prevent release of pathogens into the environment. Previous studies have reported that these crates become contaminated with feces and bacteria.

The new study was conducted on the Delmarva Peninsula—a coastal region shared by Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, which has one of the highest densities of broiler chickens per acre in the United States.

For the full article, see:
http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/press_releases/2008/rule_chicken_transport.html

Initial information about the 13th Annual VT Grazing Conference is available at the VPN web site's conference page. Our keynote speaker this year will be Dr. Darrell Emmick. We are excited about the changes we're adding, and hope you will be pleased, too.

It's just a week before Thanksgiving, and a friend sent me this link to MSNBC streaming video. It's an interview with Alaska governor Sarah Palin, after she officially "pardoned" the Thanksgiving Turkey. It's not meant as poltical statement on my behalf, but because I know quite a few of you will identify with the action taking place just over Gov. Palin's shoulder...

You may need to click on the picture of Gov. Palin on the left of the web page to select the correct video.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/vp/27838743#27830667

Enjoy!

Jenn

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/know-where-your-food_comes-from.php

At the end of the article, a blog discussion requested the writer’s source documents, which she provided below. I poked around to find some online links to them, if you’d like to learn more.

Weiske, A., Vabitsch, A., Olesen, J.E., Schelde, K., Michel, J., Friedrich, R., Kaltschmitt, M., 2005. Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in European conventional and organic dairy farming. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ.

Olesen, et al., 2006. Modelling greenhouse gas emissions from European conventional and organic dairy farms. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 112, 207-220) (I couldn’t find this article online, but a similar study is linked.—JC)

Gronroos et al., 2006. Energy use in conventional and organic milk and rye bread production in Finland. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 117, 109-118.

Cederberg et al., 2000. Life Cycle Assessment of milk production- a comparison of conventional and organic farming. Journal of Cleaner Production. 8, 49-60.

Finally, there was also a link to the key targets of the recent summit, from the National Milk Producers Federation web site.

Jenn

In recent months Karl Hammer, farmer and owner of the Vermont Compost Company in Montpelier, has been struggling to continue operations in the face of legal action by the State of Vermont that allege that Vermont Compost is operating in violation of ACT 250, VT's land use development law. Karl vigorously disputes this and his appeal is now pending before Vermont’s Environmental Court.

On July 7th, in an unexpected and outrageous development, the state's Natural Resources Board (NRB) served Karl with a “Cease and Desist” order requiring him to immediately cease operations, remove all compost from his farm and pay an $18,000 fine for violating ACT 250 -- even though there have been no court hearings or judgments on his pending appeal!!! Karl has been given 15 days to appeal this order, which he will now do.

These gratuitous and aggressive actions by the Natural Resources Board threaten the future of Vermont Compost Company, as well as the farms and businesses of scores of certified organic growers across Vermont, a large number of whom depend upon Vermont Compost’s products in producing locally grown, organic fruits and vegetables.

http://www.nofavt.org/programs/advocacy-for-agriculture/Vermont-Compost-Company-Action-Alert

Home page showing variety of topics

Meat

Milk

Poultry

http://burlington.craigslist.org/grd/749339260.html

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/292458

http://www.organicmilk.org/ff_May_2008.shtml

The farm land has been reclaimed with a combination of brush hogging and sheep rotation. The main pasture area was open but full of less desireable species, such as

Burdock

Bedstraw

and Thistle

In general, the open unimproved pasture area is producing thin, lower quality and yield species.

Land reclamation as a topic of discussion came up often, particularly around management of the lower-quality species and weeds. Already, Ross & Warren have observed higher quality forage coming in where the sheep have been rotated. One challenge they face: they have a larger land base than they need for the number of sheep they have. In order to concentrate the sheep at a high enough grazing density to keep the invasives in check, and add manure for soil quality, it means that the additional pasture will either need to be maintained through clipping or haying, or more sheep or other species need to be added. Ross and Warren are considering adding beef cattle to their system to create greater impact without the extra spring lambing stress.

Warren has also been brush hogging an additional area, and plans to put the sheep into the “back 40” to defoliate the returning woody species, and improve the soil.

The visit concluded with a short presentation by Patty Blomgren of the Green Mountain Spinnery in Putney, VT , discussing available markets for organic fiber, and general fiber quality requirements. Patty also offered GMS’ equipment for custom processing of wool.

GMS currently buys Certified Organic wool from Maine and western states, to serve customers simply because there isn’t enough production currently coming from VT. One challenge is the fact that there is no definitive national standard for organic wool, so the nearest standard used is for Certified Organic meat. The meat standard requires not only that the live animals be fed Certified Organic grain for the duration of their own life, but also their mother for the final trimester of her pregnancy. The more challenging part is that synthetic dewormers are not allowed for meat animals. The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) has recognized the lack of a fiber standard, and has placed that standard on the list with other issues waiting more definition, including honey, mushrooms, and the pasture standard. NOFA-VT supports a modification to a standard more similar to the current dairy regulations, which allow the use of synthetic dewormers, with an extended product withholding time.

We just received this little gizmo in the mail the other day, and wanted to pass it along. It’s a fence flag to mark electric wire. Just clip the flag onto the electric wire (a red wire piece illustrates it in the picture), and the flag will wave around. You squeeze on the clip to open it, so it’s adjustable for many different types of wire. Pretty neat, and you can take them off much more easily than the orange tape so often wound around wire to make it visible to animals and neighbors.

www.fence-flag.com

Two topics of conversation that came up: buttercups, and manure.

Buttercups growing in a field look very impressive, like they've taken over a field, like this:

In truth, they look like they take up more space than they actually do. The Sumner cows were able to graze easily around and right up to them.

The tremendous number of buttercups at the Sumner Farm prompted the question: do we want to get rid of them, and if so, how should we do it? This led into a discussion around the unwanted species in general and the roles that they play. Observations were made that buttercups are often found in soils where there may be significant water flowing under the soil, and on slopes where animals may be depositing their manure fertility inconsistently. On a farm with springs and nary a flat pasture surface, the Sumner Farm fits that description. Buttercups, due to their long tap root, have the ability to reach further below the surface to find water and minerals, and help hold the soil.

Buttercups do have a low toxicity rating, primarily causing oral and digestive tract irritation. Most animals choose not to eat it for this reason. Malcolm noted that after he grazes through the pastures, he also clips them to even the plant competition. Once wilted, the cows are more likely to choose to eat the buttercups.

For more information, check out the VT Invasive Plants list:
http://pss.uvm.edu/vtcrops/articles/VTPoisonousPlants.pdf

We also talked about the multiple ways to manage manure pats…whether to break up the pats to encourage faster breakdown, or leave the pats to crust over.

Many people break up pats to expose parasites to the sun and air (in theory killing them). Recently Dr. Ann Wells visited VT to speak about managing health and parasites; her feeling is that breaking up pats spreads parasites around more widely than it actually kills them in our climate. It’s moist and warm enough in VT to actually encourage parasite growth under these conditions. She says the spreading technique works best in very hot, and VERY DRY climates.

The argument was then made among the group that allowing manure to crust over and form its own mini-ecosystem is better for parasite management and long term soil health. When allowed to do its biological “thing” uninterrupted, the pat encourages the growth of parasitic wasps which reduce fly populations, increase dung beetles and worms…in short, attract many of the beneficial species we want.

This led us all into a great conversation about dung beetles. Thanks to Kevin Kaija for digging (no pun intended!) up this list of North Carolina dung beetles, with pictures on pages 6 & 7.

http://www.uvm.edu/~pasture/Documents/guidetoncdungbeetles%20%282%29.pdf

Most of these species are not found in VT, but several are…so keep flipping over those pats and tell us what you see!

Jenn

We VPN staff are continually seeking ways to share information between farmer experience, structured research and current events affecting grass-based farming practices. So, we've decided to start a blog.

Check us out from time to time for recent pasture walk pictures and themes of interest, general postings about ongoing events, links to news clips as we find out about them, Across the Fence and other streaming video clips...the options are nearly endless.

Come along and join us! Should be a new adventure in each posting.

Cheers!

Jenn & Rachel