Pasture-to-consumer producer shares learning

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Jocelyn Cavadini with her son Micah, 6, at her shoulder, poses with Noelle, 4, Silas, 8, and Jason Cavadini. Not pictured are Timothy, 11, and Nathan, 9.

Greg Galbraith/For Agri-View

The Cavadinis take advantage of cross breeding to achieve heterosis, which has helped them have animals that gain well in a pure-grass system and display winter hardiness.

Greg Galbraith/For Agri-View

A pasture walk is nothing new to Noelle Cavadini, 4; she stays until the very end on a chilly September evening.

Greg Galbraith/For Agri-View

The main lane that leads to an outwintering area onCavern Point Farm has been crowned in preparation for wet conditions.

Greg Galbraith/For Agri-View

Cavern Point Farm's owners are believers in home-grown genetics; a bull is the result of their use of pure Red Angus bulls in the past.

Greg Galbraith/For Agri-View

With his Cavern Point Farm beef herd grazing in the background, Jason Cavadini discusses 10 things that have impacted the profitability of his young pasture-to-consumer business.

Greg Galbraith/ For Agri-View

Matt Oehmichen of Short Lane Ag sponsors an evening walk and provides refreshments.

Greg Galbraith/For Agri-View

Jason Cavadini tells guests at his Cavern Point Farm near Stratford, Wisconsin, that demand for grass-fed beef raised locally is at a record as a result of a consumer-attitude shift. He links it to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Greg Galbraith/For Agri-View

Bill Kolodziej, Marathon County Conservation, Planning and Zoning grazing specialist, rolls wire in order to move his cattle.

File photo

Greg Galbraith

Greg Galbraith For Agri-View

STRATFORD, Wis. – “I’m no expert but I’m willing to be an open book and share some of things we’ve learned since we began building pasture in 2015,” Jason Cavadini told visitors to his farm for an evening pasture walk Sept. 3.

Greg Galbraith, a former dairy farmer who owns woodlot property in eastern Marathon County, Wisconsin, writes about the rapidly changing nature of the agricultural landscape. He has built a lifetime connection to the land and those who farm it.