Author Archives: Matt Bomgardner

  The following is an article I wrote for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s 2016 fall newsletter. Today’s dairy economy has become extremely volatile. For the modern family dairy, some believe the only option is “get bigger or get out”.  I, however, … Continue reading →

I sit here on March 1st with temps around freezing after a low in the single digits this morning.  It’s been real close to zero degrees (F) every other week since the beginning of the year.  But that trend will … Continue reading →

As I look back at ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’ of 2013, I also look forward to 2014.  As my last post showed, highly productive pastures make much more money than poor pastures.  Often the talk between grazers … Continue reading →

This year I was able to keep a log of the intakes grazed per milking cow based on how much TMR the cows were eating in the barn. I was glad that I was able to keep after the log … Continue reading →

This year’s grazing ended on November 26th.  While the milking cows are still going out to pasture on nice days, we are not adjusting the TMR ration for any pasture intake.  They are getting 3-4 hours a day to relax and … Continue reading →

This fall has been really good for grazing as has the entire year.  As of today, October 19th, we haven’t had a frost and it has been a seasonably warm fall that has been hot at times.  That will be … Continue reading →

I had an eye opening experience when I ordered cover/forage crops for my fields and pastures in late July.  Prices have increased at least 25% over the past two years.  In addition, sudan grass bought in spring increased almost 100% … Continue reading →

Once again it’s time for fall crops for both mechanical harvesting for storage and for grazing.  Cooler than normal summer weather didn’t give maximum sudan grass growth, but it really helped the perennial ryegrass pastures.  So, I burned down sudan grass in early … Continue reading →

The following is a summary of a pasture walk on the farm for Lebanon County Grazing Network last week. The farm consists of 196 acres of which 146 are tillable.  Of the 146 tillable acres, 82 acres are fenced and 64 … Continue reading →

Thanks to Google I now have another overhead photo of the farm which shows some changes and grazing management.  I pinpointed the photo to April 23rd or 24th because of where the cows are located and what my journal says. … Continue reading →