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Converting an Existing Dairy to the Missouri 75-Cow Grazing Dairy Model

Joe Horner, Ryan Milhollin, Stacey Hamilton, Wayne Prewitt and, Tony Rickard (July, 2011)

Summary

This guide examines the financial feasibility of creating a new Missouri grass-based dairy by converting an existing conventional dairy to a 75-cow intensive rotational grazing dairy. The model for this conversion assumes the farm buyer is able to purchase a dairy without paying anything extra for the fact that it contains an obsolete double-4 herringbone parlor. Using a low-cost retrofit of the parlor, the new dairy producer is able to increase labor efficiency without committing a large amount of additional capital. This model allows the new dairy producer to overcome the capital threshold that is a barrier to entry for most new smaller dairies. This dairy is designed to be located in an area where winter weather conditions and soil types allow cattle to be housed outside all year.