Lancaster County at Forefront of Regenerative Dairy Farming

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cow in a field
Image via Alejandro A. Alvarez, Philadelphia Inquirer.
A grant to area dairy farmers seeks organic milk produced by cows whose sole diet is grass.

Farmers in neighboring Lancaster County are aiming to take organic milk to a whole new level. Helping them get there is a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, writes Harold Brubaker for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The agribusinesses are focusing on regenerative dairy farming, which expands on standard organic methods to demand a strictly grass diet for cows. This means that cows are fed hay in the winter and not given any grain, which is a common supplement on numerous organic dairy farms.

“An herbivore is designed for grass, as opposed to corn,” said farmer Leroy Miller.

His cows get outside throughout the entire year and can sometimes even graze late into December.

A $1 million grant is boosting this approach to dairy farming; it is being disbursed to a collection of sustainable agricultural advocacy groups through 2024.

The goal is to increase the number of dairy farms in Lancaster — and other nearby counties — that feed their cows only grass. The commitment to all-grass feeding enables the new organic certification, called “regenerative organic.”

This approach, according to advocates, puts the focus on protecting the environment, animals, and workers.

Read more about regenerative dairy farming in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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