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Dairy specializes in local organic marketBy Jennifer Bremer Having a market for products is what all farmers must do, but creating a successful market for a specialty product is just what southeast Iowa dairy farmer Francis Thicke has done. Thicke and his wife, Susan, own Radiance Dairy, an organic dairy located near Fairfield. They milk about 80 Jersey cows now, but the dairy started in 1980 when several families mutually purchased two Jersey cows for their own private raw milk supply. They continually expanded and grew. Now they supply organic milk and dairy products to a local grocery store and about a dozen restaurants in the Fairfield area. Organic background Thicke grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota and, in 1976, that farm was converted to organic. "I looked at it as an interesting challenge--to farm without the use of chemicals," he said. "We've done it this way for a long time, so it's second nature to us." Radiance Dairy has slowly grown and changed. In 1996, Thicke moved the dairy from one side of Fairfield to another to handle the expansion, and more efficient milking and processing facilities were built. Being organic means the cows are raised without the use of antibiotics and the feed and pasture is also managed organically without the use of chemicals. A recent problem with organic corn has led him to raise and feed barley to the cows. More barley, besides what is raised on the farm is purchased from other organic producers. Organic soybean products are purchased from a nearby soybean processing plant. Hay is produced on the farm as well. "We make our own hay on a couple of fields we always make into hay and, if we have some paddocks that grow faster than we can graze them, we will cut them for hay as well," he said. When farming near surrounding conventional farmers, Thicke said it's important to have buffer strips. If a hay field is next to a conventional field, he will cut a 25-foot buffer strip and that hay is sold and not used on-farm.
Grass-based system The entire 236 acres of Radiance Dairy is planted to forages. They use a rotational grazing system with 60 paddocks of two to three acres each, with the balance of the farm in hay fields--which are grazed as needed. Cows are milked twice per day and moved to a new paddock every day. "It's easy to move them since they have to come in to get milked anyway," said Thicke. "We bring them in and switch the gates after they are all in so they can get to a new patch of grass after they are done being milked." Portable fencing materials are used to partition off whatever portion of a paddock is needed for grazing for each half day. "After the morning milking, we may string a temporary fence to allow the cows access to only the front half of a paddock. After the evening milking, the temporary fence will be removed to allow the cows access to the remainder of the paddock," he said. Grazing begins in the spring as soon as the forage begins rapid growth, which is generally about April 1. Thicke said it is important to start early in order to get the forage in the many paddocks around the farm in a sequence of growth stages so they can continue to graze them sequentially at ideal growth stages throughout the grazing season. Each year a no-till drill is used to plant additional forages--mostly clover and other improved grasses. Fescue can be a continual problem in southeast Iowa. Paddocks with a fescue problem are used for winter grazing and feeding of hay. "We will feed hay in several different places in the paddock to be sure the cows are distributing natural fertilizer--manure--all over the piece," he said. "In the spring I will till in an annual and in a couple years the fescue problem is gone." The farm was planted into corn and soybeans prior to the Thicke ownership. He said the topsoil has experienced some major erosion. Since converting the farm to all forages, there has been a build up of topsoil and much more earthworm activity to keep the soil healthy. In spring and early summer, forage growth in the paddocks is faster than the grazing animals can consume it, so about 30 percent of the paddocks are removed from the grazing rotation for the first several months and cut for hay in May. That hay is stored for winter feed. As the summer progresses, forage growth rate slows as it becomes hotter and drier. Then those paddocks are brought back into the grazing rotation to enable each of the paddocks to have the proper resting and regrowth time. "To extend the grazing season beyond the forage growing season, beginning in August, we stockpile forage in some paddocks for late fall and early winter grazing," said Thicke. "During that time, the forage in those paddocks will have had time to regrow enough for grazing, but not too much time to grow to the point of over maturity and loss of nutritional value." In the fall and early winter, cows will graze hay fields that had been mechanically harvested several times during the summer. Grazing animals are sorted into three groups: lactating cows, dry cows and bred heifers, and yearling heifers. In the grazing system, lactating cows are rotated through the paddock system first, since they have the highest nutritional requirement. The dry cows and bred heifers follow a day or two behind the milking cows and graze the forage down to the appropriate height before moving on to the next paddock. The yearling heifers rotate through a separate group of paddocks.
The cows The dairy originally started with two cows, but when the Thickes bought it, 22 cows were being milked. The herd has grown to about 80 milking cows. Since the dairy is organic, cow health is important. No antibiotics are used on the cows, thus meeting the organic requirements. Thicke said he likes to provide the cows with a healthy lifestyle to keep them healthy. "A natural diet of forages and being out on the grass all the time keeps the cows healthy," he said. "A natural diet helps avoid a lot of problems. If we can avoid problems with cow health, it doesn't create problems." He said one of the major challenges he faces as an organic producer is controlling flies. Soybean oil is sprayed on the cows in the winter months. He also purchases parasitic flies that he distributes throughout the farm in places of high manure concentration. The parasitic flies kill the other flies. Chickens are also used for fly control. They have about 25 laying hens that free range around the barnyard looking for insects and anything else to forage on. "The chickens scratch through manure looking for fly larvae. In the process, they spread the manure out so it is not suitable habitat for hatching flies," he explained. Longevity is a key trait of Jerseys. Most of his cows milk an average of 30 months, but several are milking much longer. Thicke tries to avoid calving in severe winter months--December and January--and during July when it's extremely hot. Otherwise, he calves year-round. Cows are dried up 60 days prior to calving.
Milking, processing and marketing Cows are milked in a 16-stall New Zealand-style, swing parlor. Eight cows are milked at a time and then the milking machines are swung to the opposite side to milk the other eight. They have continued to add more cows to the milking group as demand continues to grow. Their 1,000-square-foot dairy processing plant is connected to the milking parlor. The building was designed to keep the milking and processing areas separate by sandwiching the milk house, utility room and office between them. With that design, they were able to get a variance from state code that allowed them to connect the milking and processing buildings. Milk is pasteurized, but not homogenized. Therefore, all the cream rises to the top of the milk in the jugs. Milk is bottled in plastic jugs, but they would like to convert to glass bottles. However, if glass bottles were used, additional cleaning equipment would need to be added, also. Currently, Radiance Dairy produces whole, 2 percent and skim milk, cheeses, yogurt and a soft-serve mix for soft-serve ice cream machines in several local restaurants. All their dairy products are sold in the nearby town of Fairfield--population 10,000. They have never advertised their products, but their market has gradually expanded over the years through word-of-mouth publicity. "The town of Fairfield is the home of Maharishi International University, which draws many people who practice transcendental meditation. This atypical population has provided much of the customer base for Radiance Dairy," said Thicke. "Over the years that I have owned and operated the dairy, however, I have met a lot of people who lived here before the university came to town who also buy our products. Some prefer it because it has a cream line, some because it is rich Jersey milk, some because it is organic." Products are not sold retail on the farm, but instead are delivered to local grocery stores and restaurants. There continues to be a large and growing demand for organic products. He has no contracts for the products, but instead watches the stock on the store shelves and delivers more products when needed. Restaurants call in their orders, which are delivered twice per week. The price for a gallon of organic milk is almost double conventionally produced milk. Currently, Radiance Dairy milk sells for $6.60 per gallon. Thicke said the consumers in his area are willing to pay more for the product, but it has been an issue in other places. "The price for our product has to be higher because our input costs are higher," he explained. "Organic corn cost $8 per bushel a year ago and now costs $13 per bushel. Farmers are getting contracts for $24 per bushel on next year's soybean crop." Thicke said with all the increases in conventional farming prices, there are fewer producers converting to organic farming. "There is a growing demand for organic products, yet fewer people willing to take the necessary management steps to become organic," he added.
Improvements for the future Thicke doesn't expect to expand much more than his current level. He would like to continue to build more barns for winter shelter as well as a composting building to better utilize waste. While he is very energy conscious, he would like to become even more energy efficient in the future by using more solar or wind energy to power the farm. "Organic farming is an important systems approach to preserving our land for the future," concluded Thicke. "It's environmentally and ecologically the way to preserve the land for future generations." Jennifer Bremer can be reached by phone at 515-833-2120 or by e-mail at jbremermaj@hotmail.com. 5/26/08 Date: 5/22/08
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