By Jacki Martinez Perkins, MOFGA’s Organic Dairy and Livestock Specialist The knowledge base for all farming endeavors needs to be extensive, but one major difference we see between livestock production and crop production is the year-round care and maintenance of a key source of revenue: the livestock themselves. Good quality feed and water keep them
By Tim King It’s hard to keep up with the rapid expansion of commercial solar installations being developed in the Maine countryside. In January of last year, the Portland Press Herald reported that BNRG/Dirigo Solar, a venture of companies based in Portland, Maine, and Ireland, has 36 active projects in Maine, with 10 under construction.
By Tim King Sheep shearing is largely men’s work in some parts of the country. That’s not so in Maine. Arla Casselman, who farms MOFGA-certified organic blueberries near Warren, believes that’s due in part to MOFGA. “With the MOFGA apprenticeship program I feel like it’s easy as a female to get on a farm,” she
By Holli Cederholm In Bowdoinham, Maine, farmers Abby Sadauckas and Jake Galle of Apple Creek Farm raise a diverse mix of grass-based, certified organic livestock for eggs and meat, as well as value-added bone broths and pate, sold year-round at local farmers’ markets and a handful of retail outlets. Aspects of holistic management have informed
Bill and Jean Noon of the MOFGA certified organic Noon Family Sheep Farm are dedicated conservationists. Photos courtesy of Jean Noon. By Stowell Watters Sheep graze and ferment. They sniff and chew their way over the fields, taking what they like and unpacking it with bacteria in their awesome bellies. Simply by eating, they preserve
Developed by Richard Brzozowski, Extension educator, University of Maine Cooperative Extension; Diane Schivera, livestock specialist, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association; and Jean Noon, sheep producer, The Noon Family Sheep Farm, Springvale, Maine. April 2013. O designates organic management. Management Your primary goal is to reduce stress through good management, nutrition and proper health care.
A well-made lane guides sheep to pasture at Susan Littlefield’s Yknot Farm in Belmont, Maine, which is transitioning to organic. Photo by Diane Schivera. By Diane Schivera, M.A.T. Raising sheep and goats organically can be a challenge, so many farmers who support organic principles have not transitioned their animals to certified organic. Presently MOFGA Certification
By Jean English Last summer, some 500 Rambouillet wethers enjoyed a fine cuisine of brushy vegetation under power lines on a 13-mile, 460-acre strip of Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) right-of-way in Nottingham, Barrington, Lee, Durham and Madbury, New Hampshire. Little did they know that they were part of an experiment to control
Marty Elkin and MaryAnn Haxton’s new Tesseract fiber arts building. Photo courtesy of A Wrinkle in Thyme Farm. By Joyce White A Wrinkle in Thyme Farm in Sumner, Maine, takes its name from Madeline L’Engle’s book A Wrinkle in Time, which, said co-owner Marty Elkin, was influenced by the emerging knowledge of quantum theory.
Sheep eating Regano and grain at Ells farm in Union, Maine. By Diane Schivera, M.A.T. Coccidia (Eimeria sp.), which are parasitic protozoa, and other internal parasite infestations are a major problem for many livestock farms, reducing growth rates and weight gains in young animals and thus reducing farm income. When a coccidium leaves its host
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