Danish farm editor observes: US organic farmers ahead on dairy breeding, lax on nutrient management

Visitor says his tightly regulated readers would be surprised by N loss from lagoons and field spraying, but impressed by how well his Northeastern farmer hosts fit their cows to the farm.

Text and photos by Kaj Lund Sørensen

During my long-awaited visit to the United States, I toured 11 certified organic dairy and crop farms in the Northeast. As I've reflected on my experience to write a series of articles on the trip for my Danish farmer readers, I described some differences in nutrient management and livestock breeding, and on the interesting no-till organic crop-planting technology at the Rodale Institute.

In the first two weeks of September I visited the Institute and family-operated farms in Pennsylvania, New York State, Vermont and Maine. I saw dairy farms, a sheep dairy, a crop farm producing cash crops such as cereals and pulses, and an organic feed mill and seed operation. All farms are certified to the USDA organic standards of the National Organic Program (NOP).

I wrote about the visit in Effektivt Landbrug – my Danish agricultural newspaper. Here I want to talk about some of the differences between Danish organic farming practices and what I saw on organic farms in the United States.

All in one quick pass

The most interesting and inspiring thing to see was the one-pass, no-till farming method using a roller-crimper at the Rodale Institute.

The way organic farming in Denmark is carried out usually includes ordinary conventional soil tillage methods and a big number of field operations which cost a lot of fuel, steel and time, as well. For many years I have seen it as one of our biggest challenges to change this. But I must admit that I never heard of Jeff Moyer’s invention or anything like it.

It was very useful to see the development of practical methods for reduced tillage in organic production. Moyer gave me a very thorough and dedicated introduction on how the front-mounted roller-crimper can kill cover crops mechanically and how it is possible to plant through the weed-suppressing mat created by the rolled biomass. In combination with a double-disc no-till planter, it is possible to do the rolling and planting simultaneously. I also went to the fields to see how no-till corn performs when it is planted into a mixed legume cover.

The system builds up organic matter in the soil, prevents erosion, catches nitrogen and requires less time. According to Moyer, it can cut the number of passes in a corn crop from eight down to one.

What else can one ask for? I have started to advocate that experiments with the system should be carried out in Denmark.

It was inspiring to hear Timothy LaSalle (CEO of the Institute) talk about organic farming as a practical solution to global warming with a stronger voice than I am used to. “Farmers are standing on the solution,” he told me. “The way we farm is the most undervalued way that we can curb global warming,” he said.

70 percent field effect

Most Danish organic farmers have clover and other legumes to feed the grass fields with nitrogen. They use the farm’s slurry and solid manure to fertilize cereals and corn in the crop rotation.

For more than two decades regulation from the government has pushed all types of Danish farmers to use new techniques, application methods, timing in certain crops and detailed plans for manuring. As an example, either trailing hoses [behind a tank] or direct injection would be used under optimal weather conditions when applying slurry to a grass crop.

[Danish] farmers in general are very focused on minimizing loss during storage as well as obtaining a high field effect of the nitrogen when supplying it to crops.

Fertilizer and manure are regulated by quotas. All dairy farmers have to account for 70 percent of the total nitrogen excreted from their cows—including manure and urine left in the field during grazing. The farmer is pushed to have minimum of 70 percent effective utilization of nitrogen in the field. The result is that farmers in general are very focused on minimizing loss during storage as well as obtaining a high field effect of the nitrogen when supplying it to crops.

Extremely high loss of ammonia

So the biggest surprise for me in the U.S. was to see how management of manure is carried out on some organic dairy farms.

I wonder why I saw only a little focus on nutrient management without more focus on recycling and binding nutrients in order to limit evaporation and leaching of nitrogen.

In New York State I visited a farmer who separates the slurry from his 300 cows into a solid fraction and a liquid fraction. It was a small surprise to learn that the solid fraction is reused in the stall as bedding for the cows. Such a system does not exist in Denmark but I understand that there is a shortage of straw in the region and sawdust is very expensive. Observing through an aesthetic lens, it is not so attractive, but the milk [somatic] cell count is well below 200,000 cells/ml and apparently there are no hygienic problems.

The liquid fraction is stored in an uncovered lagoon, which has great potential for the evaporation of ammonia.

But the spreading of slurry in the field was the biggest surprise. The liquid fraction is pumped from the lagoon to a self-propelled mobile irrigator. A special device lets the sprinkler eject 25 gallon two times per minute into the air.

One day the sun was strong, the temperature was above 80 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind was carrying the ejected slurry in such a way that one could actually watch how a big portion of the liquid evaporated before touching the ground. It is evident that the loss of ammonia is extremely high.

This application system, which is less than one year old, is used on various grass fields throughout the season. Even with more friendly weather conditions the loss of nutrients using this method will be high.

I wonder why I saw only a little focus on nutrient management without more focus on recycling and binding nutrients in order to limit evaporation and leaching of nitrogen.

Import of manure from confinement hens

The unlimited import of conventional manure also surprised me. I did not yet read the NOP-regulation thoroughly but several organic farmers gave me the information that there is no limitation—no ceiling—regarding import of manure from conventional farms. Some of the farms I visited import large quantities of manure from confinement hens. During my two-week long trip I met no one who questioned this practice.

From a Danish farmer perspective, this regulation looks quite lax. In Denmark a bit more than 6 percent of the total arable land is under organic management. The dairy farms make up a big portion of this but there are also many crop farmers without livestock.

Our small country also has a sizeable intensive conventional pig sector with a surplus of slurry compared to the land controlled by the sector. Until now the organic farmers have benefited from this. The present regulation permits the use of conventional manure or slurry equivalent to 28 kilo (61 pounds) total nitrogen per acre. The calculation is done on average of all the acres on the farm and independent of the crops cultivated.

Recently it has been decided in that the use of conventional manure in organic production must be abandoned. In 2015, a six-year-long phasing-out period starts.

Very deliberate choice of breeds

It really was an eye-opener to see how the dairy farmers I visited very deliberately select breeds that work well into their organic systems.

They look for animals that can eat a lot of grass and can produce milk on a low supplement of grain. I found some Holstein Friesians but most farmers went for a smaller cow with lesser need for maintenance fodder. The ideal is smaller types with better hooves and legs; hardy, strong and healthy; a good conception rate and longevity.

Butterworks Farm, Vermont

It really was an eye-opener to see how the dairy farmers I visited very deliberately select breeds that work well into their organic systems.

I saw many New Zealand Friesians, some Normandy and a few Lineback. And of course Jersey. Many farmers also take advantage of crossing the breeds.

Lesson learned about antibiotics

In the U.S., treating an animal with antibiotics has high costs. Once an animal is treated, it can never become organic again. For this reason, I’ve learned that antibiotic treatment should be replaced with better management and care.

Cow-health comments from farmers included:

• “It has increased my attention on prevention and to keep the animals healthy.”
• “I have learned to use alternative treatments such as natural, botanical medicines, homeopathic remedies and acupuncture.”
• “We have had much less disease in the herd since we converted to organic.”
• “Milk fever, ketosis and displaced abomasums have disappeared.”
• “Many diseases can be avoided by early intervention.”
• “The biggest challenge is to exercise careful management and daily care.”

In Denmark, organic regulations are much more slack and pragmatic. Conventional veterinary medicine is allowed and in the case of milk, the only restriction is a retention period twice as long. If a cow is treated three times in a year she needs a new conversion period to become organic again.

Sexed semen rules, use flip-flop

The EU organic regulation does not allow the use of sexed semen and while there is a wish among some organic farmers in Denmark to get permission to use it in their herds, it seems as if the situation in the Northeastern U.S. is entirely different.

According to the NOP regulation it is permitted, but the eight dairy farmers I have met are not the least interested! They explained that sexed semen is several times more expensive, the fertility rate is lower and the certainty to get a calf of the wanted sex is only about 90 percent.

30 years, 45 cows, delicious yogurt

I wish I had more space to comment all the interesting places I saw, but just let me say a little about two more farms.

Jack Lazor Klaas Martens

Butterworks Farm in northern Vermont is where Jack Lazor milks 45 Jersey cows and turns the milk into the most fantastic, delicious yogurt. He and his wife Anne have been doing this for 30 years and they probably run the oldest organic dairy in eastern North America. Apart from that they also grow various cereals which they sell either as flour or seed. This farm is very impressive to see.

Another inspiring place to see is Mary-Howell and Klaas Martens’ farm near Penn Yan in New York State. Their land consists of over 1,300 acres of well-managed field-crop production, including double cropping. The early crop is either winter barley or winter spelt. When these crops are harvested in late June, either soya beans or kidney beans are planted. This is not common where I come from.