Algal blooms and other water quality concerns continue to challenge the Great Lakes, agriculture being a significant contributor to nutrient loading. At the same time, small-and medium-sized dairy farms in the Great Lakes region are heavily indebted, struggling to compete, and closing at an unprecedented rate.
This project explores how low-overhead regenerative dairy grazing can reverse this trend by offering a scalable solution for farmers, the environment, and Great Lakes communities. Low-overhead regenerative dairy grazing cuts both variable and fixed costs of production which can allow farms to be profitable even at very low milk prices. Through the project, the Wallace Center team and agricultural economist Dr. Jon Winsten (Winrock International) will work with Food System 6, and the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship to map out the barriers as well as the potential financial, social, and environmental impacts of this system.
Through the project, we are also working with a group of experts who are helping us understand key leverage points within the system that could incentivize low-overhead dairy grazing adoption long-term. This team includes experts in dairy markets, farmer engagement, policy, rural development, and finance, and includes:
For Farmers
This project will help dairy farmers in the Great Lakes Basin to create the necessary technical and business plans to create larger-herd, low-overhead dairy grazing operations. We will provide a range of services customized to each farm.
For Allied Organizations
We’re also eager to partner with organizations and companies working in regenerative agriculture, water quality, rural development, policy, and more to help make profitable dairy grazing possible for more farmers.
Years Active: 2024-2027
Low-overhead dairy grazing: A specific solution to a vexing problem
This article, written by Dr. Jon Winsten and published in 2024 by the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, describes how low-overhead dairy grazing can help producers achieve competitive profitability without exacerbating water quality and climate change problems by having their land in permanent vegetative cover.
Low-overhead dairy grazing: Financial and environmental performance
In this webinar, recorded in September 2023, Dr. Jon Winsten gives an overview of the low-overhead dairy grazing system and what makes it unique for the Upper Midwest. He provides background on the economics of dairy farming, explains why reducing overhead costs per hundredweight of milk is key to farm profitability, and presents results from a recent financial and environmental analysis.
Grazing: Economies of scale to lower overhead costs >>
This article, published in 2023 in Progressive Forage, describes Dr. Jon Winsten’s work on dairy grazing systems and the efficiencies of the large herd, low overhead model.
Facilitating low-overhead dairy grazing for the Upper Midwest: Profitable, environmental, and prosocial farming >>
Low-overhead dairy grazing can give farmers greater flexibility and profitability, as well as contribute to quantifiable environmental and social benefits. This document provides an overview of the context of dairy in the Upper Midwest and a brief description of the benefits of low-overhead dairy grazing.
How can regenerative grazing for dairy production provide wins for cows, farmers and climate change? >>
In this article, Dr. Jon Winsten discusses Winrock International’s domestic and global initiatives focused on climate-smart dairy production and the importance of regenerative grazing.