In the heart of the North Country in Chase Mills, New York, McKnight’s River Breeze Farm stands as a testament to the benefits of diversified agriculture.
The farm dates back to 1885 and is managed by husband-and-wife team Mary Lou and Stephen McKnight, their eldest son Travis, and his wife Natalie. The family and their 28 employees manage over 1,650 milking cows, 1,700 young stock, and a diversified portfolio that includes beef cattle, a farmstand, and maple syrup production.
Mary Lou oversees herd management and bookkeeping, Travis handles the crop, maple, and equipment side of the operations, and his wife Natalie and their four children manage their farmstand. Stephen, affectionately dubbed the CEO, steps in wherever needed, ensuring smooth operations across the board along with supervising the herd’s daily feeding program and monitoring feed sampling, quality, and bunk management.
Left to right: Kayson, Natalie, Mary Lou (back), Henderson, and Addison McKnight.
Beyond Dairy
“We needed to diversify,” Mary Lou said, reflecting on their journey. “Everything fits now, and it allows us to do a better job at what we’re doing.”
The McKnights began looking beyond dairy with Angus Holstein crosses and have been raising them for over 25 years.
“In years when milk prices were low, the beef helped carry the financial side,” Mary Lou said of the flexibility in raising the crosses.
Today, they also manage two Angus beef pasture herds—one black Angus and one registered red Angus. In addition, a focus on their dairy cow breeding program has created global demand for their cows.
“We just wanted to do a better job at what we’re doing, so we’ve worked for many years on genetics. Because of our reputation for high-producing, healthy cows, we’ve had animals go to Canada, Israel, Turkey, and Mexico,” Mary Lou said.
Farm to Market: Bringing Local Food to the Community
In response to community demand and a desire to offer local products, the McKnights started a farm market stand four years ago. Initially envisioned as a small roadside stand, it has grown into a significant part of their operations.
“I would plant huge gardens,” Natalie shared of her love of growing her own food, “And I would just put stuff out for free by the road because I just had an abundance of it. And so, Travis used to say, ‘You should sell it!’ So, the idea started with that.”
The idea got off the ground in 2020 when there was a shortage of food due to the pandemic.
“And so we decided we would do the vegetable stand. I imagined just a little roadside stand, and then Travis imagined bigger,” Natalie said of their farmstand, which is an approximately 500-square-foot retail store built by hand by Travis and still filled with the scent of freshly cut pine.
Travis and Natalie’s children help with the farmstand: Addison (14), Grayson (12, not pictured), Kayson (10), Henderson (6).
A few years before the farmstand began, Natalie and Travis also added a maple syrup operation. They now have 15,000 taps and a state-of-the-art sugarhouse.
The farmstand offers a variety of the farm’s products, including beef, maple, honey, sweet corn, and other fruits and vegetables produced by the McKnight family, dairy products and lemonade from King’s Dairy, cheese from Meyers, and vegetables, fruit, and baked goods sourced from local Amish farms.
Renewable Energy Initiatives
The farm is also making significant strides in renewable energy this year, with a methane digester and a solar energy system, Mary Lou says.
The digester, a two-million-dollar collaborative project with nearby Maple View Dairy farm, will convert manure into natural gas. First, manure will be transported four miles from the McKnight’s to the digester at Maple View Dairy. Methane gas from the manure is captured in the digester and piped into a natural gas pipeline, reducing emissions and creating renewable energy. The farms will be paid for the gas units generated.
“Neither one of us had quite enough cows or animals to support a big digester. By putting us together, we could do it,” Mary Lou shared. “The company that is building the digester owns it, and they do all the management of it. So neither one of us has to supply any employees to manage this facility.”
Mary Lou McKnight at the site of the manure separation facility.
The project includes manure separation facilities on each farm. Once the manure has been put through the digester, it will then be transported back to McKnight’s farm and separated into liquid and solids. The sterile, dry solids will be used as cow bedding, and the liquid will be used for fertilizer for their fields.
“It eliminates spreading solid manure on the ground because you’re dealing with more of a liquid product. It can be injected in the ground and is more neighbor-friendly because it’s not being spread on the surface, so the smell is less,” Mary Lou said.
The solar project involves installing solar panels on the barn roofs, with the goal of generating enough power to meet the farm’s needs.
“Solar that is generated on this farm stays on the farm so we can meet our energy needs sustainably and the digester helps reduce our carbon footprint; it’s a win, win,” Mary Lou said.
The farm now grows plenish beans to feed their dairy cows to improve milk production.
Innovations in Crop Management & Feed
The farm also recently expanded its grain facilities and introduced plenish beans to their crop rotation.
These beans, a variety of soybeans, have shown better energy conversion for their dairy cows compared to standard soybeans.
“The limited factor prior to this time was the growing degree days or the growing days. The plenish beans were a longer-season crop. So through genetics and improvement, they’ve made a shorter season bean so we can grow them here in the north country now,” Mary Lou shared.
The positive results from an eight-week trial led to the decision to plant plenish beans more extensively. The farm’s grain expansion includes additional dryers and storage bins to accommodate this new crop and the grain corn they grow.
Mary Lou says a crucial part of their improvements in milk quality and herd performance has been through their partnership with Phoenix Feeds and Nutritionist Dave Burnham. Burnham makes recommendations to optimize the herd’s diet for better production with concentrate mixes. Concentrates are rich in nutrients, energy, and protein and supplement farm-grown forage for better overall cow nutrition.
“Dave’s expertise is phenomenal. We really enjoy working with him. He’s worked with us to get us up to where we are now,” Mary Lou said of the average 98 pounds of milk per cow per day they produce—up significantly from the former herd average of 85 to 88 pounds in the past decade.
A Vision for the Future: Family First
Looking ahead, the McKnights plan to continue to make improvements to the operation so they can prioritize what is most important.
“What we enjoy most about this life is family time. We work together, we play together, we go to church together, we go to school activities together—this family being able to be together is what it’s all about,” Mary Lou reflected.
