Piece By Piece at the Swain Farm

Things have been happening at the Swain Farm in Sanbornton, New Hampshire.  David and Elaine Swain own and operate this family-run, diversified dairy farm and milk 60 cows, primarily Holsteins and a few Jerseys.  Additionally, they raise beef, swine, poultry, and produce maple syrup. Soon they will also be selling their own hormone-free, raw and pasteurized milk.

Betsey Keefe, the Swain’s daughter, is an art teacher and is also helping her parents improve cow comfort and manage the fourth-generation farm. Betsey’s brother, Matthew Swain, although busy with his own farm, helps with the crops, farm equipment maintenance and the farm renovation.

The Swain family recently built a hoop barn to use as a loafing shed and feeding facility. This comfort barn, constructed through a New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services grant in cooperation with the Belknap County Conservation District, protects the feed alley and minimizes manure runoff.  They have also installed a walk-through milking parlor that fit into their existing stanchions barn without major reconstruction.

“Fifty years ago the cows were smaller, so these updates were badly needed to improve cow comfort,” says Betsey Keefe. “It’s hard to change to a new method when you have been milking the same way for 60 years like my parents have.

“I am so proud of them for doing this. We are already seeing an increase in milk production, healthier cows, and a decrease in the amount of work for us since adding these improvements.”

The Swain family is working toward pasteurizing and bottling their own milk. The improvement of their cows’ comfort and general farm management are geared toward this goal. When they sell their milk the Swains want their customers to come see where their milk originates, and know they are buying quality.

“It is definitely a slow investment,” Keefe says. “We’re doing it piece by piece. We decided to pay for everything as we go. It would be nice to have everything done at once, but this way keeps us from getting ahead of ourselves. We have seen so many farmers go under with the huge debt they have to pay on.”

Funds from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), a voluntary, competitive Farm Bill conservation program, has provided some of the funding to help the Swain’s improve their manure management system and barnyard water management to separate clean water and treat any runoff containing agricultural wastes.

The Swains have also been working with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to plan and implement a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan as part of their EQIP contract. 

 Implementation of this plan will ensure that nutrients from chemical fertilizer and manure are managed to meet crop needs while protecting surface and ground water.

The Swain family also received business planning assistance from the New Hampshire Resource Conservation and Development Council’s (RC&D) Agriculture Innovation Program. Their focus while evaluating their farm operation was to increase efficiency of the dairy.

 Through the business planning study they have improved dairy management and cow comfort through physical and technological changes, purchased milk production equipment, and enhanced David and Elaine’s management responsibilities.

The Swain family plans to continue to develop the bottling facility, add new calving pens, dry cow areas and baby calf pens. They also hope to increase their weekly milk sales and expand their market from direct on-the-farm sales to local independent stores, farmers’ markets and restaurants.

The future looks bright for the Swain Farm as the family seeks to stay relevant in today’s agriculture market.

By: Melissa Hemken, SCA Intern and New Hampshire NRCS Communications Specialist

< Back to home page...