Maine Grass Farmers Network Announces First Pasture Walk of the Season

June 16th, 2011

DEXTER — The Maine Grass Farmers Network has announced its first pasture walk of the season on June 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the farm of W.R. Sherburne and Sons, Inc., 33 Town Farm Road in Dexter.

Fred Sherburne and his nephew Shawn will host for the event and will lead participants on a tour of their pasture system. The program is free.

Once a confinement dairy, the farm is now an organic dairy using pasture to meet a majority of the nutritional needs of their cows during the grazing season. Fred and Shawn will share their stories of how they transitioned to a pasture system and what changes they have seen in their fields and cows.

W.R. Sherburne and Sons, Inc. sells organic milk to Organic Valley, a cooperative that supplies milk to Stonyfield Yogurt in New Hampshire. The Sherburnes have been exploring new crops and markets, growing sunflowers for oil and meal, and participating in research with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension on bread wheat production in an effort to discover new concepts and production practices.

Participants are reminded to wear washable boots for the pasture walk, as the farm implements bio-security measures for all of its farm visits.

The Maine Grass Farmers Network works in cooperation with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Department of Agriculture to provide education and marketing opportunities for producers of pasture-raised livestock.

For more information, and to see the schedule of future pasture walks, visit the website at umaine.edu/livestock/mgfn. UMaine Extension programs are open and accessible to all in accordance with program goals.

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