Colrain, Mass - Colrain Dairy Farm in Colrain will host a workshop on transitioning to organic dairy on Thursday, July 10 from 10am -1pm.  Larry Shearer, owner of the farm, will lead the event.

Larry Shearer has been intensively grazing his dairy cows since 1983, and milking seasonally since 1991. In August 2007 he completed a two-year transition process, and began shipping milk to Organic Valley.

Hardwick - A workshop on transitioning to organic dairy farming and the services offered by the Natural Resource and Conservation Service (NRCS) will be held at Robinson Farm in Hardwick on Saturday, June 21st from 11am – 2pm. 

Sterling, Mass – A workshop on Small Ruminant Management will be held at Crystal Brook Farm, 192 Tuttle Road in Sterling on Wednesday, June 4th from 10am – 1pm.  The workshop will be led by Ann Starbard who owns the farm. Topics to be discussed will include mixing browse with pasture, managing parasites, using trace minerals while pasturing, watering systems and fencing. Crystal Brook Farm is an award winning farmstead that began making cheese in 1998.  It now produces about 12,000 lbs.

Rocky Acres Farm in Warren will host a workshop on transitioning a dairy herd from winter to summer feed on Tuesday, May 6 from 10am-1pm.  Bob Richardson, who has been operating the farm since 1976, will lead the workshop.  He will discuss the issues around deciding when and how to move cows from winter to summer feed, as well as selling raw milk.  Meghan Moody from Blue Seal Feeds will be on hand to discuss the work she has done with Bob on ration balancing and forage/hay testing.

  2008 Grazing Workshop Series NOFA/Mass, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the University of Massachusetts Extension have organized these Grazing Workshops as a continuing education resource for Massachusetts farmers. Topics at each event will vary, but will include pasture management, organic transition and herd health, forage species, soil fertility, fencing and water systems, and summer and winter grazing.

Jill Ebbott, a holistic health counselor in Brookline, buys 8 gallons of unpasteurized milk a week for her household of three people, and she pours a splash in the bowls that her three dogs eat from. She says a year of drinking raw milk has cleared up her husband's allergies.

1. Get an overview of the organic dairy industry in New England and the challenges the industry faces in our smaller states.

2. Hear how a dairy farmer of a 4-generation retail and delivery dairy farm transitioned to organic, and how he became a supplier of local organic milk to Whole Foods Stories in Massachusetts - the first farmer to do so.

3. Get the chance to interview dairy farmers from across the state about their farms and organic transition process, and MDAR officials, Brad Mitchell and Bonita Oehlke.

Get a full press release about organic dairy in Massachusetts plus a calendar listing of innovative workshops on organic dairy.