By Carrie A. Mizell

Raising dairy heifers in rotational grazing systems is still a fairly new practice though it is growing in popularity because it requires a smaller capital investment and is more neighbor friendly.
Currently, Gilchrist County has two rotational grazing dairies, Piedmont Dairy and Watson Dairy, both are leased by Ron St. John. Pending approval by the Gilchrist County Board of County Commissioners, St. John may be granted a variance to allow for a rotational grazing dairy at Martin pivots, which is located between Trenton and Bell.
At press time, St. John was scheduled to appear before the Gilchrist County Planning Commission on Tuesday night to make a presentation on the proposed rotational grazing dairy. After hearing St. John’s plan for the site, which is 640 acres, the planning commission will make a recommendation to the county commissioners who will have the final say on the variance.
According to Charlie Smith, if the variance is approved, the new rotational grazing dairy will be permitted for around 1,200 dairy heifers. Smith explained that the herd would be separated into groups of 350 to 400 cows that would be milked twice a day, once in the morning and then again in the evening. Once they were milked, the cows would be shown to a new section of grass, be it rye grass in the winter or Bermuda grass in the summer.
Half of the heifers’ diet would come from eating the grass and the other 50 percent would come from dry matter, which they would consume while in the milking parlor.
“Milk that comes from the grass fed cows is more nutritious and healthier,” Smith said. “Ultimately, we would like to try to develop locally produced grazing dairy milk because we think it’s better than organic.
St. John’s Southpoint Dairy in Levy County would serve as the prototype for the proposed dairy at Martin pivots, Smith explained.
Southpoint Dairy started milking on Dec. 22 and currently milks 920 heifers twice a day, though it is permitted for 1,550 cows. With six full-time employees and a few part-time laborers, Smith said the dairy operates at a much slower pace than its sister, Alliance Dairies. Each day a pump is run immediately after each milking to spray waste on an 80-acre spray field, which Smith said is run for only an hour and a half a day, which reduces the odor that is commonly associated with dairies. The herd is on an 8-to -14 day rotation where they graze on grass that is measured weekly and graded to ensure that the heifers always move to fields with the highest quality grass.
“Eighty-five percent of the cows’ time is spent grazing and 15 percent is spent walking to and at the milking parlor,” Pete Hetherington, manager at Southpoint Dairy said.
Smith said that like Southpoint Dairy, the proposed dairy in Gilchrist County would be sustainable agriculture at its best.
“This is a new and different kind of dairying,” Smith said. “People ask me if I would want to live next to a dairy … If it’s one like this, then hell yes!”
According to Smith, Gilchrist County’s Vision plan points to the citizens of Gilchrist County wanting the community to remain an agriculture based county, therefore he concludes that residents would rather live next to a rotational grazing dairy than a subdivision.