The author is a writer, consultant, and speaker who specializes in grass-based livestock farming systems

I have been involved in grass-fed farming systems for much of my life — from early childhood years in New Zealand to helping on the family farm in northern Vermont from the late 1970s to present. I’ve also been involved in university research and consulting for the past 25 years.

When I first began consulting with farmers in the early 1990s, my primary focus was on improving pasture yield and quality to enhance livestock productivity, lowering feed costs, and strengthening farm income. At that time, a small number of dairy farmers I worked with were interested in not only reducing the grain in their rations but also exploring the possibility of managing their feeding programs entirely without grain.

I was familiar with grass-fed dairy systems from New Zealand, but I knew that the harsher climate and shorter New England grazing season, combined with U.S. milk pricing structures, would make transitioning to 100% grass-fed production a unique challenge.

Some of the farms I worked with gradually tapered off grain and tried operating without it for several years. A few with alternative milk markets found that the system worked for them, and they continued with it. I recall several telling me that despite producing less milk, they appreciated not having a grain bill. However, most found that the lower milk production per cow, combined with the way commercial milk was priced, made the system financially difficult.

Early lessons

Even though many of those early experiments were short-lived, the lessons learned about managing high-forage diets and improved grazing systems proved valuable. Farmers who returned to feeding some grain still benefited from the stronger pasture management skills they had developed. Over the following decade, many of these innovators became highly skilled graziers and were among the first to transition to certified organic once that market offered a higher and more stable pay price.

Since then, both consumer and farmer interest in grass-fed farming systems and food products has grown significantly. These days, multiple milk buyers in the Northeast seek certified grass-fed milk and pay a premium for the product. As a result, the number of grass-fed dairy farms has expanded rapidly — from just a handful in the 1990s to hundreds across the region today.

Transitioning to a grass-fed production system is complex. It requires significant changes across many aspects of farm management. In 2018, the Northeast Grass-Fed Dairy Project was launched to support the growing number of farms exploring or operating within this system. This farmer-directed initiative worked closely with an advisory board of farmers to identify the most pressing information needed and to provide research-based education and practical tools for success.

Current research topics include: high-energy forages to support milk production; soil fertility and nutrient cycling on grass-fed farms; the sensory (flavor and aroma) and nutritional quality of grass-fed milk; young stock rearing and development; farm economics and cost of production; and several national surveys on production practices and farmer perceptions.

In general, the farms that have succeeded with grass-fed dairy production made a number of key management adjustments as they eliminated grain. They reportedly:

• Replaced grain with larger amounts of high-quality forages with special attention to energy and fiber digestibility

• Unless the herd was downsized, added acres of cropland and pasture to meet the higher forage intake needs

• Purchased additional forages beyond their added acres of pasture and crops

• Implemented a new mineral supplementation program, since cows no longer receive minerals in grain

• Monitored herd health with attention to body condition, reproduction, and general well-being

• Selected herd genetics that are well suited for high-forage rations

• Monitored soil health and soil fertility to support high-quality forages

• Adjusted farm financial plans to ensure economic viability with less milk production

Certified grass-fed

Unlike organic certification, which is defined by the USDA National Organic Program’s Organic Standards, “grass-fed” does not have a USDA standardized label. However, there are third-party grass-fed standards, and many certifiers now offer grass-fed certification administered by either Organic Plus Trust Inc. or the American Grass-fed Association.

The grass-fed standard, among other requirements, prohibits grain or grain by-product to be fed to cows or young stock. During the grazing season, which needs to be at least 150 days, an average of at least 60% of feed intake must come from pasture for all cows and young stock over the age of 6 months. This differs from organic standards, which require that only 30% of the feed come from pasture during a 120-day grazing season. The grass-fed standard also sets limits on the quantity of allowed supplements such as molasses or pelleted alfalfa.

Financial ramifications

Although the grain bill goes away, the cost of production generally rises under grass-fed management. A big part of these higher costs is that grass-fed dairy cows produce less milk compared to those consuming grain. Grass-fed operations also feed more milk to calves to compensate for not using grain. This diversion of milk to calves further reduces the amount of milk sold per cow. Less milk sold simply means there are fewer hundredweights over which you can average farm expenses.

In addition, some expenses will rise, including purchased minerals, purchased forages, and costs associated with a larger land base for grazing and crop production. When considering a transition to grass-fed, each farm needs to look at their own unique resources and challenges to make a well-informed decision to see if the grass-fed premium covers the greater cost of production. What works on one farm may have different financial outcomes on another.

As part of the Northeast grass-fed dairy project, dairy farms located in New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont that ship certified grass-fed milk have been participating in a project to look at farm management information in conjunction with the farm’s financial information to explore how their cost of production correlates with management systems. Each year, participants receive a report on their own farm’s cost of production along with a grass-fed dairy benchmark. Within this group of participating farms, there was a wide range in the cost of production. For this reason, the project took a closer look at the 2023 and 2024 cost of production and management data. The data showed that:

• Farms that sold more milk per cow had a lower cost of production.

• Farms with a longer grazing season had a lower cost of production.

• Farms managing more cows per full-time equivalent worker had a lower cost of production.

Because selling more milk per cow was highly correlated with a lower cost of production, we looked more closely at which farms had higher production. The data shows:

• Farmers who rated their forages as “excellent” produced significantly more milk than farmers who rated forages as lower quality.

• Farms spending more per acre on fertilizer and seed produced more milk per cow.

Success strategies vary

While averages provide useful benchmarks, they do not tell the whole story. During farm visits across the Northeast, I have observed innovation and diversity in how farmers make grass-fed work. There is a huge range in the amount of milk sold per cow (from under 5,000 pounds to over 12,000 pounds per cow) on grass-fed farms. Breed choices also vary. Many farms milk crossbred cows, but others have purebred Holsteins, Jerseys, or less common breeds such as Fleckvieh, Ayrshire, and Normande.

Land use strategies also differ, depending on where the farm is located; availability of high-quality, affordable forages to purchase nearby; and the cost to own or rent land. Some operate with 12 or more acres per mature cow, produce all their own forages, and sell surplus feed, while others manage under two acres per cow and buy all their forages.

The diversity of successful approaches underscores that there is no single model for grass-fed dairying. Grass-fed dairy farms vary widely in scale, and operations come in many forms — each adapting to its own resources, land base, local climate, and markets.