Massachusetts Goat Producer Gets Pasture-ized!

(COLRAIN, MA) As a child growing up in Brooklyn, New York, Bob Ramirez visited a farm through a program for city kids. That visit made such an impression on him that 12 years ago, Ramirez and his wife Cynthia bought a farm in this hilltown and started raising angora goats. Today, with technical assistance from NRCS, the 29 award-winning goats at Keldaby Farm peacefully graze the hilly pastures surrounding the farmstead where the Ramirez’s sell mohair wool, weave woolen clothing and run a bed and breakfast.

On a recent summer evening, a group of about 20 farmers, staff from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), UMass Extension, New England Small Farm Institute and USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program joined Ramirez for a pasture walk to learn about the benefits and challenges of pasturing livestock.

“When we arrived, the fields were in bad shape,” said Ramirez, leading the group through a hillside pasture. “We bought scythes and worked with scythes until we collapsed. I guess we started with a medieval vision of the farm.” Bob soon realized that what they needed was machinery.

He has since reclaimed the pastures not only with machinery, but also with the goats and lime, as well as technical and cost-share assistance from NRCS.

Weed control in pastures, controlling invasive species and preventing unwanted introductions were the primary discussion topics during the pasture walk. Although the goats are grazing the pastures, invasive plants including bed straw, Canadian thistle, ground ivy, and golden rod, continue to plague Ramirez.

“I’m learning to get ahead before it’s a problem,” said Ramirez of the invasive plants, showing the group a tractor cutter bar clogged with bed straw.

The Keldaby Farm goats are well cared-for. Ramirez, who refers to them as his “girls,” trims their hooves, grooms their hair, and provides feed in the barn where they spend the night away from roaming coyotes.

According to Barbara Miller, NRCS’ grazing specialist in Massachusetts, Ramirez might get a little more help from his goats in controlling the invasive plants with more intensive management. “If animals aren’t hungry when they go out to graze, they pick and choose only the plants they like best.”

Watering the animals can be challenging in a pasture-based operation. Ramirez has three watering systems in place and has problems with costly leaks. Nonetheless, The Keldaby Farm angora goats have started to pay for themselves in the past several years with the high quality wool they produce, and as sought-after breeding stock.

Pasture-based grazing offers farmers economic, animal health and labor benefits over feeding livestock grain-based feed. And there is growing consumer interest in products from grass-fed animals. Grazing systems must be managed properly, however, to achieve the benefits.

Massachusetts farmers interested in learning about the benefits of grazing livestock have been invited to attend a series of pasture walks this summer to meet fellow graziers, improve skills, and learn from other’s experiences. The USDA-NRCS, the New England Small Farm Institute, and the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, sponsor these pasture walks to help those who are relatively new to grazing management, though all are welcome.

Additional pasture walks were planned for this summer. In July, the New England Small Farm Institute hosted a pasture walk on their farm in Belchertown, which is leased to two producers who raise sheep and beef. The operation is a good showcase for the infrastructure of a grazing system including several types of fencing, watering systems and animal movement.

At Rose Hill Dairy in Hardwick, owner Regina Robinson, host of an August pasture walk, is milking a few cows on pasture reclaimed from roses and is state-certified to sell raw milk. She also raises pastured veal and will be raising poultry.

For more information, contact: Barbara Miller, USDA-NRCS, 413-253-4380; Sue Ellen Johnson, NESFI, 413-323-4531; Larry Shearer, SARE, 413-624-3978; or your local NRCS field office. To find your local field office or USDA service center, visit www.ma.nrcs.usda.gov. 

by Diane Baedeker Petit, Public Affairs Specialist, USDA-NRCS Massachusetts

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