A milking apparatus that would be unique to American farms might be utilized to help Wolfe’s Neck Farm of Freeport get its Organic Farmer Training Program started next summer.

Rick Kersbergen, a professor of sustainable dairy and forage systems for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, has been taking advantage of his time on sabbatical to work on the start-up operation for the program, intended to open doors for people interested in organic dairy farming in Maine.

Kersbergen said last week he hopes to help bring a portable milking parlor to Wolfe’s Neck Farm. Such a piece of equipment is not seen anywhere else in the country, he said. This past autumn, he visited Holland and Germany, inspecting portable milking parlors used in Europe.

“The idea is, we import one as a model for a start-up farmer to use,” he said. “The idea is to increase the number of organic dairy farmers. There are lots of start-up expenses. This equipment could be transferable from farm to farm, for a dairy farmer whose lease arrangement might not work out.”

David Herring, executive director of Wolfe’s Neck Farm, has been working with a hiring committee to find a director for the training program. Among other duties, the director will oversee the farmer trainees, who will spend up to 18 months on the premises, learning the business. The director will reside in a house recently acquired by Wolfe’s Neck Farm on Recompence Lane.

Last summer, Wolfe’s Neck Farm announced it had received a $1,693,000 grant from Stonyfield Farm Inc., of New Hampshire, and the Danone Ecosystem Fund to begin the organic dairy farmer training program. The idea is to revitalize and strengthen the organic dairy industry in the state and in New England.

“Our goal is to build a viable and sustainable organic dairy model at Wolfe’s Neck Farm that will be used for two purposes – training the next generation of organic dairy farmers and conducting forage and pasture-based research to advance organic dairy farming across the region,” Herring said at the time.

The director will conduct a search for perhaps a couple of dozen organically certified heifers. Subsequent purchases will grow the Wolfe’s Neck Farm organic dairy herd to full capacity of 60-80 milking cows by May 2016, Herring said.

“We’ll acquire cows quarterly,” Herring said. “They must meet certain health criteria. They could be yearlings up to several years old. Genetics and health history will be important.”

Wolfe’s Neck Farm hopes to begin milking operations next summer or fall, Herring said. Four farmer trainees working under the director will be hired by then.

“The timing is perfect for an initiative like this,” Kersbergen said. “There is a readily available pool of people interested in organic farming from the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association’s Journeyperson Program. There’s a huge number of journeypersons, or apprentices.”

Kersbergen added, however, that it requires a substantial capital investment to get into organic dairy farming. A portion of the grant would go to the construction of housing at Wolfe’s Neck Farm, where the trainees would live, Kersbergen said.

“There’s going to be a lot of changes that are going to happen pretty quickly at Wolfe’s Neck Farm,” he said.