Features from Chaseholm’s monthly newsletter

All grass all year - even in winter!

This week we’ve really been feeling those good old New York subzero winter lows. Cow water freezes and the pasture is dormant under a layer of ice and snow. We believe that keeping cows eating pasture is key to maintaining their health and the nutritional quality of the food they help us produce. So how do we keep our certified organic 100% grassfed herd nourished from November-April when the grazing is slim to none?

The short answer is hay and baleage - harvesting the summer grasses and drying them just enough to maintain as much nutrition as possible while preserving them for the long winter months. Those big white marshmallow-like round bales you see lining our farm fields are especially important. Sarah and the farm crew spend long summer hours mowing pasture when it’s growth is just right, raking it just enough to allow for a quick dry in the summer heat, and baling it up before night falls so as to capture as much nutrition as possible. The plastic wrap surrounding the bales (which we hope someday soon is made from something else!) keeps the oxygen out, allowing them to ferment like sauerkraut. The bales are unwrapped in the barn each day of winter and distributed to the dairy herd to unleash that good summer pasture even on freezing days. In our current 1930’s era barn, feeding enough of this hay to keep our cows well nourished is a major physical task. The Chaseholm crew physically lifts and carries between 6,000-9,000 pounds of hay and baleage to our cows each morning. Now that most of us are solidly in our 30’s we’re definitely feeling the physical impact of this task. We’re hopeful that 2022 opens construction on a new barn and feeding set up that will make 100% grassfed dairy more sustainable for all our cows and people. We’ll keep you updated as we move towards that new infrastructure goal!

TeAM SPOTLIGHT: SARAH CHASE!

Farmer/Owner Chaseholm Farm

When did you takeover the farm operations at Chaseholm and what inspired you to do that?

I took over in 2013 after several experiences that made me feel like I wanted to commit to this land and this place for my life. I was 24! That sounds really young to me now. I grew up milking cows at Chaseholm and my dad grew up here too. When I left the farm for college, I remember having the realization that I’d been deeply shaped by my experience growing up on this land and as part of this farm. Who I was was inseparable from Chaseholm! Someone would ask where I came from and I would see the shape of the hilly pasture across from my parents home or feel the ride in a truck between the dairy barn and the house I grew up in. Or I’d think of the smell of fresh cut hay drying in the sun! I realized these were the feelings and places that I wanted my body and my self to know as home forever.

A few years after that realization I discovered the idea of farming regeneratively, using grazing cows as a tool to heal farmland. This resonated with me. It felt like the best way for me to combine my love of the farm and cows with my values around treating the earth well and repairing the harm done by industrial, extractive farming methods.

Tell me about one of your favorite memories growing up at Chaseholm as a kid?

I had a lot of freedom as a kid. I was allowed to roam. A favorite memory is packing a tiny lunch, probably some cookies, and marching into the alfalfa field across our quiet farm road. The alfalfa was as tall as my (maybe 7 year old) shoulders and a deep leafy green. I went deep into the field and sat down, surrounded only by the plants and the sunny sky. I set to work making a home there, sort of a burrow above ground. I flattened patches of alfalfa to make rooms and made curving paths between them. I remember feeling all alone out there in the tall grass because no one could see me but if I poked my head over the tops of the plants I could see home so I wasn’t scared. (Not like the time I got lost in the corn field…) I don’t remember walking home, just being out there but it isn’t a memory with any drama involved just a sweet sunny fun day I spent wandering and entertaining myself.

What made you transition to organic, grass-fed management? How has your understanding of grass-fed farming changed since you started trying to farm this way?

We started with a goal of being grass-based. At first I think I just thought it was nebulously good, good for cows, good for the earth, good for farm finances. That opinion has gained a lot of complexity over the years. I love that we are 100% grass-fed. Organic is more complicated for me. Not because I wish I could use pesticides or antibiotics but because the industry of organic certification sometimes obscures the truth and makes it hard to feel like the designation is as impactful and positive as it could be. Check out The Real Organic Project for more on that. But as for grass-fed, we’ve gotten a lot more skillful at it over the years, better at making stored feeds and at managing summer grazing. Our cows make more milk each year! That’s cool to watch, it means we are improving our management practices and the nutrient density of the grass and soils themselves. Restoring health in the ecosystem just brings more and more health. That’s what has been so cool about grass-fed. It’s a leap to get there in our modern world but I think once you do it it’s hard to ever want to go back to a high input and high production system.

How has your queer identity shaped the farm.

Queerness has been a fun part of this journey for me. At first I was a little nervous to be a gay dairy farmer in my rural hometown but the more time goes by the more I love the complexities of my identity and feel accepted by my community. Plus, the space I’ve been able to create as a queer person has helped so many other people feel welcome on this farm. In some of the most meaningful moments, I’ve met other queer folks from dairy backgrounds who are floored by what Chaseholm has become. Generally they felt so unsupported in creating a life in agriculture. Hosting drag shows in the dairy barn feels like doing something just so right ;)

Describe some of your favorite farm jobs (or farm moments). What do you love about this work?

I love milking the cows, especially when it’s not too hot or too cold. LOL. I like working with animals and really knowing them and them really knowing me. Sometimes I just love being sort of accepted by them, unremarkable to them, so I can get close to their big bodies without them caring or moving away. That feels like the closest thing to love that cows can offer.

I also really enjoy making hay. I like mastering tractor skills and I like the choreography of mowing, raking and baling a field. It’s also a really productive feeling to be storing away hay for the winter and knowing it will be the milk you’re selling in January and the nutrition that creates and supports the spring calves.

What do you find most challenging about this work?

The hardest part is that it happens everyday forever. It’s been hard to find a balance with other parts of life but I think I get better at that each year. The other most challenging part is trying to farm well and be a good employer and feed people well in an economy that makes it hard to survive without cutting corners. We work hard at financial management but that part stays tough!

Do you have a favorite place on the farm?

Not one place. I find places when fencing or moving cows and I notice them and love them but there are many and they change with the seasons. We do have some beautiful views that are fun to visit but I love lots of different kinds of places.

What’s your favorite thing(s) Chaseholm makes or sells?

I eat a lot of our yogurt! and our cheese…omg the Nimbus. (Stella is my other favorite!) But I also really love our pork! It is delicious, lol even the fat is just so good.

What are your main goals for the farm in 2022?

In 2022 we are trying to really master our books. AND we are trying to get a big loan to build a big barn. I want to modernize our facilities so that we can spend more time doing the fun/creative/enterprising stuff and less time just doing chores. It will be a big morale booster around here to move away from our very manual 1930’s style winter feeding methods and I think our cows will like the new system too.