The simple answer doesn't say a lot about Grace Spring Farm in Louisa County, Va., however. On grass, of course. While most dairymen milk cows year-round, this producer milks seasonally. When there's no grass, there's no milk. Wayson is even more enthusiastic about the income potential of grass than he was 10 years ago.
Relaxing moments are rare for the intensive managers.
All it takes is a willingness to think differently. We have 1.7 million acres of pasture in Virginia, and the utilization rate on that pasture is probably 30 to 40 percent. With management-intensive grazing, you can get that to 70 to 80 percent. So you can double the output. If you talk to farmer after farmer who has applied these management techniques, most of them have doubled their output per acre.