Rain showers stayed at bay to provide a small group of local farmers with a beautiful evening tour of Peake Orchards and Dairy Sunday, May 20. Jeremy and Jodi Peake and their daughters Molly and Leah hosted the farm tour.
Some of the group arrived early to see milking in progress in the tie-stall barn, which was an opportunity for experiential learning. Many of the attendees specialized in other farming systems including vegetable production or small livestock, so there were many in-depth questions about how the dairy production system works from start to finish.
Jeremy shared that he selects his herd (mainly Jerseys and some Ayrshire genetics) to succeed in their grazing system, where the cows are never fed any grain. They milk year-round, utilizing baleage and hayleage over the winter months. The herd of around 40 milking cows are moved to fresh pastures 3-4 times per day, and are milked twice per day.