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Cows grazed expansive fields of grass and clover for thousands of years, moving as they pleased and sustaining themselves the natural way.
But since 1940, industrialized farming has changed that for most of America's cattle, forcing the animals into cramped, artificial quarters that breed diseases and giving them grain to eat with no room to move.
Farmer Ron Holter, the fifth-generation owner of Holterholm Farms in Jefferson, wants to turn back the clock, and return to the natural way of farming.
The approach has a multitude of benefits for farmers and consumers, he said, and on June 23 he welcomed to his organic dairy farm a few dozen farmers with whom he shared his knowledge of the grazing farming method he has used at Holterholm for almost 15 years.
"We went to grazing for lifestyle reasons, but everything else has been better, too: the environmental impact, profitability, the health of the cows, our health, everything has been better. The blessings keep coming," he said Tuesday at the farm. "And we're using God's creation the way it was created to be used. … When you use God's creation the way it's created to be used, it works. We screwed it up as mankind with conventional farming."
The event, which was organized by the Maryland Grazer's Network, a group of organizations that work to promote the practice, featured guided tours of the farm and informative sessions on the various aspects of grazing-style farming and the positive impacts they have when employed.
The tour started at the barns, but the group eventually made its way down a winding path to the lush green pastures on which the Holters' 105 milking cows roam and graze, and where Ron Holter's son, Adam, talked about the details of his family's operation.
Adam, 18, graduated from Middletown High School in 2008, attended Frederick Community College for a year, and plans to attend Shepherd University in the fall to earn a business degree. He plans to return home after college to help run the family farm, which was founded in 1889, and was certified organic in 2005.
He said he believes that grazing is the area of farming that will keep the profession alive in coming years.
"We're trying to show that there is an alternative to conventional agriculture. Conventional agriculture is non-sustainable. There's too many inputs and not enough coming back, and farmers can be able in a system such as this to be profitable year after year after year, and that's why I think it'll bring in future generations," he said while standing with his jersey cows.
"We don't really have to work ourselves to death to keep this farm running. It's a much more natural system so we just take what comes."
Between 2006 and 2008, the Holters made a $923 yearly profit per cow, compared to the $511 profit 18 Maryland confinement-style farms averaged in that same period, according to the Holters.
While grazing cows produce less milk, farmers can sell it for more money, according to the Holters. That added worth enables the family to do more with less and to be more flexible and less stressed than many conventional farmers.
The numerous advantages the Holters outlined in their case for grazing brought a range of farmers and interested parties to the event Tuesday, some of whom are already established grazing farmers, and some who are relatively new to the concept.
Leon Kline, owner of Kline Springs Farm in Schaeferstown, Pa., started gradually switching to grazing in 2004, and is looking to go organic. He made the trip to Jefferson to learn about the techniques from farmers who have more experience with them.
"We just wanted to make general observations of the ways farmers manage their cows and the grazing paddocks and stuff. And sometimes it's encouraging just to see that another farmer's cows have flies on them as well, that kind of thing," he said. "We were pretty much fed up with conventional dairy farming, the health issues and high turnover of cows. We only had a veterinarian come out once last year, so it's definitely an improvement."
E-mail Connor Adams Sheets at csheets@gazette.net.
