valerie – Graze magazine

April 2, 2026

First-generation graziers build a farm

Turner Road Farm is revitalizing a worn-out farm with multi-species grazing

By Martha Hoffman Kerestes

Bayfield, Wisconsin — Far north in Wisconsin, just a few miles from Lake Superior, is a diversified farm built by two first-generation graziers.

Esme Martinson grew up on a blueberry farm with some hobby animals, and Josh Pearson grew up in town. Together they, with their daughter Nori, are producing grassfed beef, grass-finished lamb, and other products while rejuvenating old buildings and low-fertility land.

Josh and Esme manage 80 owned and 80 leased acres that include some wooded non-grazed portions. It started in 2012 on a small parcel when they had half a dozen sheep and roughly 3.5 acres to graze, and they stumbled onto rotational grazing by accident.

“In trying to make the grass last longer, we would set up small pens and move them every day,” Esme says. “We were just trying to keep them happy. We didn’t even know what it was called.”

They were dipping a toe into pastured eggs, raising a few hogs, and raising turkeys for meat.

It wasn’t planned this way, but this set the stage perfectly for when the opportunity came to buy the land across the road. Esme and Josh could show the USDA loan officer that they had the experience in farming and rotational grazing to qualify for a loan.

March 9, 2026April 2, 2026

Longtime graziers focus on production

Almost 30 years into organic production, the Arnolds are looking ahead

By Martha Hoffman Kerestes

Truxton, New York — Many things have changed since Twin Oaks Dairy LLC switched to organic nearly 30 years ago. One thing that hasn’t changed is the role of grazing in the farm’s profitability, cow health, and production goals.

Kathie Arnold and her son Kirk milk around 150 cows on their central New York farm with about 155 acres grazeable by the milking herd. About 25 of those acres have first cutting made before being added to the grazing rotation. An additional 250 acres are used by heifers and dry cows, with 80 of those in permanent grazing and the rest added throughout the season after haymaking.

Right now total rented and owned acreage, including forage and row crop ground, comes to 760 acres, but after some currently transitioning ground becomes organic, that number will go up to 900. The farthest land is 2.5 miles away.

Productivity varies a lot, from acreage along the river that can flood and good flat gravel ground to poorly drained blue clay and side hills so steep that grazing is the only option and reseeding isn’t feasible.

Green chop to grazing

Kathie, her husband, and one of his brothers went into partnership running the dairy when the two men’s mother retired in 1980. At that time, the farm was already doing some grazing and green chop. They moved to more intensive grazing management by breaking bigger pastures up as the 80s progressed, with the encouragement of their local NRCS grazing specialist.

January 28, 2026

A no-records method for ewe flock selection

A niche of beef, lamb, and pizza

By Janet McNally

A flock needs continual pruning to keep it at optimum productivity. There are many ways to go about identifying unproductive animals depending on the size of the flock and whether or not you are keeping records.

This month I am going to address strategies you can use with a commercial flock without keeping records.

Assessing the flock

Every flock should be brought through the chute within a month after weaning to evaluate body condition, FAMACHA score, teeth, udder health, and production status.

It is best to do this shortly after weaning, as it is important to be able to establish whether the ewe is dry or has been lactating.

Make sure all the teeth are present on older ewes and that the teeth are solid, not loose. Tooth status is especially important going into winter as a ewe with poor teeth will have more difficulty pulling hay out of tight bales or grazing stubble on pasture when winter grazing.

December 30, 2025

Building a diversified grassfed farm

A niche of beef, lamb, and pizza

By Martha Hoffman Kerestes

Decorah, Iowa — Tom and Maren Beard are building community around their grazing farm in the rolling Driftless hills of northeastern Iowa.

That includes direct marketing grassfed lamb and beef raised on the farm, and it includes welcoming hundreds of folks onto their farm each weekend during warm weather for wood-fired pizza made with local and regional ingredients.

The Beards manage around 250 acres of land, about half of it rented. Tom does about 50 acres of organic row crops, and the rest is permanent pasture and hay ground. Only half of the land is tillable, given the slope and tree cover of some parts of the acreage.

Managing both species

Tom and Maren keep about 150 hair sheep ewes and 20 cow-calf pairs and finish 6-10 head of beef a year slaughtered at 20-30 months (the rest of the calves are kept as replacement heifers).

Both species are moved once a day with 30-day rest periods for pastures when the grass is growing fast, and lengthening when growth slows.

December 2, 2025

Thinking outside the box with grazing

Amos Stoltzfus is finding his path as a first-generation dairy grazier

By Martha Hoffman Kerestes

Kinzers, Pennsylvania — Amos Stoltzfus was new to grazing when he started in 2017. He’s made that fact an asset.

There’s no “way we’ve always done it” with a new farm and a new venture, so Amos has been experimenting with a variety of grazing and livestock management methods to see what fits on his operation. And he’s not afraid to adjust routines if a better way comes along.

“We have to be open minded to changes,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be done this way every time. Nature is never the same — weather patterns, growing seasons. Why should we do things always the same way?”

Shifts in markets

Amos and his wife Rachel milk around 40 cows for Maple Hill’s grassfed organic market on 70 certified organic acres. They’ve come a long way since starting eight years ago with 50 purchased yearling heifers.

The farm was certified organic when Rachel’s father bought it and asked the couple if they wanted to dairy on it.

There wasn’t an organic market available at the time, so when the heifers freshened, the milk went to a conventional market. But Amos didn’t use any prohibited inputs that would make the land lose its organic status.

November 17, 2025

From seasonal conventional to organic

Low-input dairy graziers make shifts for long-term sustainability and efficiency

By Martha Hoffman Kerestes

Belleville, Pennsylvania — After 30 years shipping conventional milk on a spring-seasonal schedule, the Bylers switched to the Organic Valley truck and moved to bi-seasonal calving.

But that’s just one of many adjustments they’ve made over time to set the farm up for short- and long-term success.

Low-input management is the cornerstone, and that means outwintered herds, nurse cows, natural service, limited machinery, and more. Matt Byler, 53, and his son Garrett, 31, run the 250-cow dairy with a full-time DGA apprentice and a part-time employee.

Cows doing the work

The Bylers manage around 750 rented and owned acres, although some are still in the process of organic transition. Their central Pennsylvania ground is relatively flat. The milking herd has access to the 320-acre home farm for year-round grazing, and there is off-farm acreage for young stock and dry cows.

All grain is purchased — the herd gets 10 lbs./head/day in the parlor. The pelleted mix is primarily ground corn and provides 20-25% of cows’ dry matter needs for the day. At times the herd gets some purchased corn silage too.