Next generation turns to organic grass

RED WING, Minn. — Scott Peterson and his late wife, Kellie, were nearly done converting their dairy farm into a beef operation when their sons, Sam and Calvin, decided to bring it back towards dairy.

“What (other) business can you build up and have it for generations to pass down (and have) the way of life?” Calvin said. “Your kids get to see life and death before their eyes. They get to experience what it’s like to raise livestock or raise plants.”

The Petersons milk about 50 cows in a double-8 herringbone parlor at Graceful Pastures Dairy near Red Wing. They also finish 40-50 steers each year and farm 1,200 acres between their own land and custom work.

Sam and Calvin are taking over the dairy from their dad. They are in the process of increasing the dairy herd numbers and making farm improvements.

“You need patience, because when you’re young, you want it all figured out right away,” Calvin said. “But, it’s a long process. …
It doesn’t matter whose name is on the property, on the land, on the farm, just act like it’s yours, and treat it like (it is) yours. And then when a day comes, it’s going to be yours.”

For the last year and half, Sam and Calvin have also started transitioning some of their land and the herd of dairy cows to grass-fed, organic production. With this change they said they hope to avoid having to scale up the dairy significantly.

“We’re just interested in running (a) 100-120 cow dairy that has less inputs,” Sam said.

Calvin said another reason for going grass-fed is reducing costs.

“With that grass-fed dairy, you’re not buying grain, you’re not buying corn, you’re not buying fertilizer, you’re just milking cows,” Calvin said. “Yes, you’re not going to milk as much, but you’re just concentrating on putting up good hay and giving them good quality pasture. And if you can do that, I think you can get better returns.”

Their dad is on board with the decision as well.

“I’m looking forward to this pasture grazing organic thing that we’re starting,” Scott said.

The brothers hope to have their herd at 80 milking cows when they switch to organic, in case there is quota implementation in the future.

“We hope our herd will be at that threshold we need, that Sam and I can farm together,” Calvin said. “Then dad can just do the cropping side of the farm.”

Scott, who started dairy farming in 1978, is looking forward to having more time to travel.

“I’m one heartbeat away from not being here,” he said. “Might as well get things lined up (on the farm).”

Calvin and Sam had different paths to dairy farming. Sam, on one hand, grew up working on the farm and never left.

“I always knew I wanted to farm and do it my way,” Sam said. “I really never looked at jobs in the world.”

Calvin, on the other hand, did not originally want to dairy farm. After high school, he pursued a career in carpentry. When necessary, he would help on the farm for short-term needs, like when his dad had surgery. As the years progressed, and with Kellie’s death, Calvin took over more of the bookwork, and each year his farm responsibilities have increased, as has his desire to farm.

Today, Calvin has shifted his focus away from full-time carpentry.

“Carpentry is probably always going to be a part of my life,” he said. “But my goal is to do the farm full time.”

Each of the three Petersons has a role on the dairy. Sam works on milking, feeding and trucking grain. Scott does morning milking, scrapes the barn and is in charge of the crops. Calvin does the books as well as his off-farm carpentry job. Sam and Calvin’s sister, Mikayla, and her husband, Tyler Ryan, do most of the calf feeding.

Over the last several years, Sam and Calvin have been working with Scott to make farm improvements. They started with projects that cost labor but not money, and then they moved on to projects that cost something. Over the span of the past three years, their two biggest projects were remodeling their two freestall barns. They did most of the work themselves.

“(I like) the projects that we set in front of ourselves, our goals, and how we reach them,” Sam said. “That really keeps me going.”

Calvin agreed.

“The times we both thought about quitting, we didn’t have any goals in front of us,” he said. “(When) nothing was changing, … you lose your hope.”

As they look to the future, Calvin and Sam plan to continue setting goals and making improvements. One of their next projects is fencing 200 acres of paddocks for the cows and putting in seasonal waterlines.

“It’s fun to see things improve: cattle health, the land,” Calvin said.