Franklin Family Farm

Cocoa here. Spring has arrived on Franklin Farm. By the time you read this, Nanner and I will have calved, and so will 18 other milkers! We're all in what Mary Ellen calls the "Springer Group," and our calving will mean David will go from milking 30 cows to 50!

While we're "dried-off" (not milking, because we're about to calve), Farmers Mary Ellen and David divide us into groups. The "Close-up Group" is the group of cows about to give birth. As each of us calves, we're moved into the "Baby Group," and the next about-to-calve cows move into the Close-up Group.

The most stressful time for us dairy cows is when we go from being a dry cow (before giving birth) to a milking cow. It can be a jolting shift of gears, like suddenly going from zero to 60 miles-per-hour. When we're newly lactating, we can get ketosis, a metabolic disorder that can happen when our energy demands are higher than our energy intake. "Milk fever" is also something the Franklins watch for; it can happen when our demand for calcium for milk production causes low blood-calcium levels.

To keep us healthy, Mary Ellen gives the dry cows two ounces of minerals, and all of us—dry cows, milkers and calves—get kelp every day. Kelp provides a readily available form of amino acids. The kelp comes from Nova Scotia in 50-pound bags, which last only a couple weeks. The kelp gives us shiny coats and hooves, and boosts our immune system.

During the afternoon milking and feeding, Mary Ellen puts a scoop of kelp (about ¼ cup) in each feeder and then puts the grain on top. Some of us like kelp so much we eat it first, before she's had a chance to add the grain! Mary Ellen says it's really good for us. Ever since the Franklins started the transition to organic farming in 2003, she's been "hooked on kelp." She believes in its preventive and healing properties. Whenever the herd is under stress or there's even a hint of a problem, she gives us free-choice kelp with our hay. We know to eat what we need. We eat less kelp in the summer when we're out in the pasture eating grass. The kelp smells like the beach, Mary Ellen says.

Now that May is here, days on the farm will be wild, straight through the fall calving, which won't end until November. And—wouldn't you know it?—just as the nonstop dairy work has begun, our farm helpers have left! Conley, who used to work after school and on weekends, has started track and is now too busy for farm work. And Ryan, our daily worker, took a new job in Massachusetts as an assistant brewer at a local brewery. This is what he really wants to do, and Mary Ellen says he loves it.

Because of the crazy, warm winter, Farmer David had no expectations about sugaring this year, and had no idea how the sap would run. It was a short sugaring season and it started early. All three sons—John, Neil and Paul—came home for Presidents Day weekend to help with the tapping. There was no snow, so the work was faster and easier than last winter. They got a lot of fancy-grade syrup. This is the first syrup that boils off and the lightest in color. It also has the highest sugar content and is a beautiful golden hue. The fancy syrup is the highest grade, and fetches the best price. Then come the Grade A ambers, the Grade B dark syrup, and finally, Grade C, the darkest. As it turned out, there was not much medium grade syrup. The sap run went from fancy to dark, to very, very dark. Farmer David said they had an incredible flow for about a week, with warm days and cool nights. They boiled 230 gallons. In a typical year, they boil 300-350 gallons.

The Franklins sell all their syrup here, through the Franklin Farm Store. They jug up some of it right after boiling and put the rest into barrels, which they "can" over the course of the year. To do this, they first reheat the syrup to 180 degrees in a shallow boiling pan, which refreshes it. Then they pour it into the jugs and seal it.

John was home for a week during spring break. He helped with the sugaring and wood splitting and pitched in on all sorts of chores, like filling the free stalls so the beds were nice and deep for the Close-up Group. He graduates from UVM on May 20 (right around when you'll be reading this). Mary Ellen and David have never had a full-time helper before, and they're very excited about having their oldest son full-time on the farm come June. John will be in charge of the haying.

The girls and I had the chance to shake up our helper Ryan before he left for his new brewing job in Massachusetts. He opened a gate for John (who was on the tractor), then came back into the milking barn to let me and the other cows out, but forgot to close the gate! When we saw the open gate, we got excited and headed right out! When we came around the back of the house, Mary Ellen was washing dishes and looking out the window. She saw us, with Ryan in hot pursuit and a look of terror on his face! He'd never seen a loose herd, and Mary Ellen burst out laughing as she came out the door to help. She said the expression on his face was priceless.

It was a warm day. The snow on the north side had melted, and the hill had iced up. Mary Ellen ran outside to try to stop us, but she was too late. We all went sliding down hill, happy to be loose. We didn't go far as there is a lot of fencing, but we all ended up on the compost heap. Mary Ellen, Ryan and John all chased us around a bit and eventually got us back into the barnyard. Jed the dog helped, too. Ryan told Mary Ellen he breathed a huge sigh of relief when she came out the door laughing. He was afraid we'd all go down the road and head into Brattleboro, but we don't like pavement, so when we saw the road, we all turned there and came back onto the grass.

Mary Ellen says Jed is fantastic. He's an Australian Border Collie-Shepherd mix. He's smart, easy-going, attentive and always on the go. Jed has a natural herding instinct and is dominant and assertive, in a good way, says Mary Ellen. She'll work on refining his herding skills once the pastures green-up and we're outdoors all day. His main job will be to round us up and bring us in for milking, and then help get us back out to pasture afterwards.

When we're being milked, Jed is with us in the barn and often tries to eat our grain. We do our best to head-butt him, but he always gets out of the way just in time, then takes another bite of grain! Once, Jed grabbed a small stick from the hay right under my nose. I didn't like that very much and just missed him with a head-butt. He seemed pretty proud to have gotten away with it.

The Franklins upgraded their haying equipment this winter. They bought a beautiful new mower and an almost-new baler. The new mower and baler are much faster, so they can mow a lot more and bale more in a day. The baler has a cutter, so as the bale is being made it will slice the hay into six-to-eight inch lengths. This means David and John won't have to fork out the bales. The new machinery will help the Franklin's grow better forages, increase the haying fields and make feeding time a little less work.

I'll let you know about my new calf when I write again this summer. Until then, enjoy the spring!
Love,
Cocoa