Nathan Tozier

I (Nathan) have participated in the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship program, which put us in an immersive situation living and working on an organic dairy farm for 2 years, side by side with the owners. In addition to the dairy, we helped with the farms pumpkin and squash operation which totaled roughly 3 acres. Beyond that, we have both worked on other dairy farms. For the last 8 years we have raised pastured poultry and forest pastured pork for family consumption and neighborly sales (small/informal).

We have a business plan applicable for buying an operating organic dairy. That said, we are not solely focused on acquiring an operating dairy and are happy to find a place that can facilitate us growing a small dairy business of our own. That could look like- farm house with barn(s) to house 20 +/- head. 20+ acres of pasture, and 20+ acres of hay ground. We would ideally finance the property with a conventional mortgage and down payment. We'd then use cash to purchase 2 mature cows of good grazing genetics, and one bred heifer of similar genetics. We would implement adaptive grazing practices, and feed hay with small amounts of grain in the winter. We'd then grow our herd slowly while we find our customer base via trial and error. We'd start with on farm milk sales, experimenting with cheeses and yogurt until we found what fit for us and what the community needs/wants. We'd then work toward growing our customer base with the goal of moving product into co-ops and local stores, and maybe a few farmers markets. In addition to this, we'd continue to pasture poultry and pork, marketing it in a similar trajectory as the dairy. We have many other ideas, but this is what we are most familiar with, although we are open to changing to meet the communities demand as we learn/grow within it. All of the work would be done by our family, and current employment would be maintained to allow the business to grow in an organic way. Our overall emphasis is on what is best for the soil first, with attention to land stewardship as a whole.