by Sally Colby
When people reminisce about the way life used to be, one topic that often comes up is door-to-door milk delivery. Although most dairy processing companies stopped home delivery years ago, some dairy farmers are finding that on-farm bottling is a value-added venture worth developing.
David Stoner is one dairyman who decided to work toward adding value to his product rather than adding cows to the herd. Stoner’s great-grandfather purchased the family’s East Berlin, PA farm in 1928, and David grew up there. About four years after taking over the farm, Stoner began Continue reading
Category Archives: Mid Atlantic
Uniting the ag community
by Sally Colby
Trent Loos talks about ag with just about everyone he encounters, and wants every farmer and rancher to do the same. “What we’re talking about is getting everyone in the food business, from food producer to food consumer, in the right frame of mind,” he said. “Not to be defensive and reactionary, but to seek opportunities and to be good listeners.”
Loos is a sixth-generation United States farmer with a strong passion for ag. After realizing that celebrities and vegan zealots had more voice and influence than real farmers and ranchers, Loos began to speak on behalf of those who dedicate their lives to producing food. Continue reading
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In southside Virginia, Blue Ridge Aquaculture gears for growth
by Karl H. Kazaks
RIDGEWAY, VA — Blue Ridge Aquaculture (BRA) is already the world’s largest sustainable indoor fishery — yet it’s poised to get even bigger.
BRA is looking to add a facility somewhere in the western U.S. to reach markets in that part of the country in addition to the eastern markets it already serves. What’s more, the company is more than five years into a research program to develop commercial indoor shrimp production, which would give it an extra product to sell along with the live tilapia it currently produces.
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Molasses supplementation of organic dairy cows
by Tamara Scully
Supplementing the diet of organic dairy cows can be costly. Certified organic grain is expensive. While highly-managed pasture is the best defense, providing adequate nutrition year-round can be challenging. One source of supplemental feed which came to the attention of Dr. Kathy Soder, of the USDA-ARS (Agricultural Research Service), is molasses.