FROM THE FARM REPORT: WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE FARM

We seem to be in the season of spring, but winter has been a far more "traditional" winter than we've had in the North Country in recent years. We've had long stretches of cold weather, plenty of snow, and no January thaw in 2026!

The cold winter made things a bit more challenging around the farm. Our dairy team worked hard to keep the cows as comfortable as possible. Lactating cows are housed in two different freestall barns: a sand-bedded barn and a sawdust-bedded barn with mats.

The sand-bedded barn is bedded weekly, groomed twice a week, and manure is cleaned from the stalls at each milking shift (three times per day). The sawdust barn is bedded weekly, more often if needed. The beds are groomed daily so that the cows always have a clean bed to lay in. We have automatic alley scrapers in both barns that clean the alleys every 1-2 hours. There are automatic waterers that are cleaned 2-3 times per week as well as dumped during each milking shift.

For enrichment, the cows have rotating brushes to scratch themselves and too play with. Happy cows make more milk and we certainly make a lot of milk here!

The cows are doing well, averaging around 100 lbs/cow/day, with a 3.23% protein and 4.47% butterfat.

In February, the Miner team partnered with the United Way of the Adirondack Region to raise money for homelessness prevention. The local community raised more than $13,000, which exceeded the stated goal of $10,000. Because we achieved our goal, several local community leaders had to "kiss the cow." This year, we used Jackie for the event.

In her lifetime, she's produced 72,460 pounds of milk. She's 4-years-old, has had two calves and is due soon with her third!

— Rebecca Sprang

rsprang@whminer.com