AGRICULTURE REPORT - Making a Dairy Farm Work with Grass-fed

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Making a Dairy Farm Work with Grass-fed Cows
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Tuesday, October 11, 2005

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Raising cows for milk is not an easy way to farm. The costs and labor¹ involved make it difficult for a small farm to be profitable.

Bobolink Dairy in New Jersey² raises milk cows that feed only on grass and hay all year. Jonathan and Nina White own the farm. This year, they have thirty-four cows and twenty-four calves³. The Whites make high-quality cheese from the milk their cows produce.

The Whites have several kinds, or breeds, of dairy cows. They have brought together smaller breeds that do well outside in fields. Many of the breeds are common on dairy farms all over the country.

The Whites raise Ayrshire, Guernsey and Jersey cows. They also have Holstein cows, and even an unusual British White. But the prize animals at Bobolink Dairy belong to the Kerry breed. These cattle are mostly or all black. They are an ancient

breed from Ireland. Although small in size for dairy cattle, they are strong and healthy milk producers.

The farm's main male, or bull, is one of only about fifty Kerry cattle in the United States.

Mister White knows each of his animals by name and knows the way they act. The bull's mother is Sarah. She is fourteen years old. That is very old for a productive milk cow. The Holstein breed, for example, has an average productive life of three to four years. These big cattle can produce up to forty-five kilograms of milk a day.

Industrial dairy farmers often give their cows the chemical bovine⁴ somatotropin, or bST. They use a man-made version of a hormone⁵ in cattle that is involved in growth and milk production. Federal agencies say it is safe.

Jonathan White does not sell milk and does not give his cattle bST. He can get about thirteen and one-half kilograms of milk a day from his cows. He turns that into five kilograms of cheese priced at forty-four dollars a kilogram.

The Whites started the Grasslands⁶ Cheese Consortium to show how small dairy farms can be successful.

Mister White says his business starts with sunlight and rain. He pays almost nothing for cattle feed. Land and cattle are his capital. He says small farms raising grass-fed cows can produce profitable products and be economically independent.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter.  I'm Steve Ember.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 calves   

n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解

参考例句：

• a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
• The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 bovine   

adj.牛的；n.牛

参考例句：

• He threw off his pack and went into the rush-grass andand munching,like some bovine creature.他丢开包袱，爬到灯心草丛里，像牛似的大咬大嚼起来。
• He was a gentle,rather bovine man.他是一位文雅而反应迟钝的人。

5 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

6 grasslands   

n.草原，牧场( grassland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Songs were heard ringing loud and clear over the grasslands. 草原上扬起清亮激越的歌声。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Grasslands have been broken and planted to wheat. 草原已经开垦出来，种上了小麦。 来自《简明英汉词典》