June 1, 2018
CapitalPress.com
9
River Bend Jerseys suited to Coos County
For the Capital Press
When Pete Mahaffy, 42,
talks about his organic dairy, he
starts with the big picture.
In the 1920s, Coos County
had the highest number of dair-
ies in the state. Granted, they
were small. Wide swaths of
open acreage were rare then, so
many farms were remote and
isolated, and were served by
milk boats that came and went
with the tides.
There were once 25 dairies
on his branch of the river alone
— Pete and Kelly’s River Bend
Jerseys are at the confluence of
the Millicoma and the South
Fork Coos rivers on a grav-
el road nearly 10 miles from
town.
Over the years, as dairy
prices rose and fell, skimming
profits from small operations,
dairies either expanded or, like
his father in 1994, decided to
raise beef cattle instead. The
farm Pete’s grandfather bought
in 1927 no longer had dairy
cows.
But that wasn’t the end.
Pete went away to Oregon
State University, met his wife-
to-be, and took a job with Jon
Bansen, an innovative Mon-
mouth-area organic dairy farm-
er. With Jon, Pete learned how
to manage pastures by rotating
dairy cows from field to field,
allowing grass to grow, protect-
ing the ground and reducing
the need for feed, chemicals
and medicines by keeping the
animals on grass longer.
During his tenure at the
Bansen farm, Pete began to see
that his Coos River home, with
its mild, wet climate and loamy
river soil was even better for
this kind of rotational grazing
here where the winter floods
often cover swaths of the Ma-
haffy land.
After four years with Ban-
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Pete and Kelly Mahaffy own River Bend Jerseys, an organic dairy
near Coos Bay, Ore.
sen, he brought his skills, and
Kelly, home to Coos County.
It was the right time and the
right place, Pete said. Already,
a few dairy farmers in Coos
County were turning to organ-
ic practices, creating a network
that attracted Organic Valley,
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Pete said. Today, all of the dair-
ies in Coos County, with the ex-
ception of one, sell to Organic
Valley.
The organic market was
proving to be predictable, suit-
ed to smaller acreages, less
expensive to maintain, and
perfect for Coos County condi-
tions, Pete said.
Pete and Kelly in 2003
bought a small herd from the
Bansens and started milking 60
Jerseys on the land where he
grew up. Today, every 30 days,
they rotationally graze their
herd of 150 around 200 acres
along the rivers. They started
milking in their grandfather’s
1930s flat barn. In 2007, they
built a modern multi-level
milking parlor.
Why Jerseys, a smaller
cow than the heftier Holsteins?
They’re better suited to his
place, Pete says. Lighter ani-
mals, less mud, less expense.
“Jerseys are ideal for the
southern Oregon coast,” Pete
said.
“I’m mostly a grass farm-
er,” he said. “I’m managing the
grass so I’m not taking up more
than I’m putting down.”
In addition to manure, some
of the Mahaffy land gets an
organic dose of fish waste —
shrimp and crab waste from
the processing plant in Charles-
ton. Pete talked at length about
what he called “the game,” the
mathematical balancing act that
keeps his cows on the freshest
grass possible.
Recent improvements have
included new lanes that protect
the soil from hoof damage —
gravel and permeable geotex-
tile-covered ground combined
are sturdier than gravel alone.
Other additions to the farm
have included the Mahaffys’
three daughters — the oldest
is 12.
When asked about future
plans, the Mahaffys look at
each other and shrug. They
may grow radishes to improve
the milk and reduce the grain
bill, Pete said.
“We can’t compete on
quantity, so we’re always
looking for a way to improve
the quality,” he said.
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