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.

First you will need a username and password for the web site, to which all Guild members are eligible. If you do not have one, and you are a Guild member in good standing, OR you have forgotten your existing username/password email the web manager your preferred username and password and contact information. We will send you a confirmation once that has been set-up.

To log-in, click the “Log In” link on the right side of the home page under the MCG logo. (If you had previously logged in and checked “Remember Me” then to get to the “Dashboard” section, click the “Site Admin” link on the right side under the logo.)

Once you have logged in you will be taken to the interactive area of the site called the “Dashboard” where there are many areas you can work with listed on the left side Menu. For example, you can immediately change your password (or change other user info) clicking on Profile. Or you can post something on the web site for all of us to see using Posts –> Add New. The Posts page editor is pretty self explanatory, and when you’re done you can Save Draft (it will be saved but not viewed) or Publish your article. Later on if you want to update your post you can get to it by clicking Posts and then, as your mouse hovers over your post’s title, click “Edit” which will open your article in the editor, make changes, then click the “Update” button. Always remember to select a category for your post.

When you are ready to post information about your licensed cheese making operation, create a post with the name of your business as the title, enter the information below that (which can include pictures and images), and then make sure to use the “Find Cheese” and/or “Find Milk” and or “Retailer” category, as well as the “Cows Milk” “Goats Milk” “Sheep Milk” and/or “Organic” (but only if you are certified organic) categories as is appropriate. When you Publish this post, it will show up on the front page of the web site, and it will also show up under “Cheese” and/or “Milk” tabs forever. You should keep this post up-to-date as much as possible.

You can remain logged in to the site, or if you want to log out, click “Log Out” link on the right side of any page (like wise you can get back to the Dashboard by clicking the “Site Admin” link on the right side).