Balfour Farm, Webb Rd
Pittsfield, Maine
10:00 am to 2:00pm

Pasture Walk and On-farm Processing of Milk

Heather and Doug Donahue will open up their farm for a pasture walk on July 10 th
from 10-2 pm. Sponsored by the University of Maine Extension and the University
of New Hampshire, the pasture walk will feature presentations by Dr. Rachel
Gilker from the Vermont Pasture Network and Pasture Program at the University
of Vermont Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Rachel will discuss estimating dry
matter yields and intakes in pastures and general grazing management, as well as
ideas around direct marketing of milk products. Measuring pasture intakes and
monitoring dairy cow diets are important parts of recordkeeping on organic dairy
farms.

Heather and Doug Donahue have been at Balfour Farm in Pittsfield for two years,
and quickly established their dairy. Originally shipping organic milk to a wholesale
market, they now direct market all their milk through a variety of farm products
they produce on the farm. Heather will be
discussing the rules and regulations process of selling dairy products and Dr. Gary
Anderson from the University of Maine will be on hand to talk about testing services
and learning opportunities for processors available through the University of Maine.
Additionally, the Donahue family is participating in a recently funded Organic
Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) project entitled “Assisting Organic
Producers to Meet the Demands of New and Emerging Milk Markets”. Dr. Andre
Brito from the University of New Hampshire will speak briefly about the project
and some of the goals we hope to achieve through the research. Amy Beliveau, a
recently graduated MS student from the University of New Hampshire, will present
her thesis work comparing the concentration of carotenes (precursors of Vit. A) in
cheese made from organic vs. conventional Jersey cows.

Lunch will be served to those participants who register before the event. To
register, please contact the University of Maine Extension office in Waldo County
at 1-800-278-1426 in Maine or 207-342-5971 outside of Maine. Participants
can also register on-line. For more information, please contact Rick Kersbergen at
Richard.Kersbergen@maine.edu Directions to the farm can be found at http://
www.balfourfarmdairy.com/visit.html This pasture walk is funded by the USDA-
NIFA-OREI planning grant # 2010-01932.