Tall swaying pine trees tower over the black and white Holstein cows that graze on lush green pastures beneath a natural shaded canopy. It’s hot outside, but instead of lying in the shade, these milk producers are gobbling up some extra groceries before their afternoon trip to the milking parlor.It was a picture that until recently was only in the minds of the Halsey family, who had lived their entire life in the cold climate of a Michigan dairy farm.”When we came here in January 2000 we didn’t know a single person,” said Neil Halsey, 39, who along with his brother, Stanley, 43, does most of the work on the farm located in the Little Oak community in rural Pike County. “A lot of people tried to discourage us. They said most of the dairies in Alabama had gone out of business and that there were only a few left. People told us nobody would want to start a NEW dairy. But then, they didn’t know our family.”Neil and Stanley are third-generation dairy farmers. Their parents, Elwood and Marian Halsey, ran the family business in Nashville, Mich., while the boys were growing up. Marian’s father was a dairyman as well. In all, their family has 70 years experience in the dairy business.Despite the discouraging words he received, Neil was convinced he could make it work, but it hasn’t been easy. Finding nearly 500 acres of pastureland for sale in the South was a challenge. The family wanted to be near Pensacola, Fla., where Marian and Elwood’s oldest son, Bryan, lives. But they found a farm that had once been home to a beef cattle operation near the small town of Goshen. But there were many more challenges ahead for the Halseys. Even the move down here brought its own set of challenges.”Stanley and Mom were in Michigan milking cows, and I was down here getting the farm ready,” Neil recalled. “I started in May 2001, and our goal was to have the cows here by Oct. 1, 2001.”On that day, the Halseys milked for the last time at their farm in Michigan at 3 p.m. The cows were loaded onto trailers and hauled non-stop to their new farm where after about 30 minutes of rest in a nearby pasture, they were milked for the first time in Alabama at the new Son-Ne Farms.A rotational grazing system allows the Halseys to keep their pastures fresh and their cows happy–a valuable combination in the dairy business.”We move the cows every 12 hours into a new pasture,” Neil said. “That helps fertilize the grass but doesn’t stress the roots and plants by overgrazing. Our milk production has dropped considerably, but we have cut our production costs by more than 50 percent. It was enough of a difference to allow us to continue to make a living and stay in the dairy business, and that’s what we’re after.”With the help of the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the Halseys developed a waste management plan that has greatly reduced the number of gallons of water they use each day to clean out the milking parlor. They custom built a modified New Zealand-style milking parlor that is based on efficiency and simplicity. And to their delight, it works just like they planned.”The cows spend less time in the parlor which means less waste,” Neil said. “Actually, they make very little waste even in the alleyway that leads to the parlor.”At Son-Ne Farms, the Halseys milk 95 cows a day. The cows only stay in the holding pen about 35 minutes. The Halseys can milk about 62 cows in a session, followed by the next 33 head.”Each milking takes us about an hour, with about another hour for preparation and cleanup,” Neil said. “In Michigan, it used to take us six hours for just one milking.”In addition to the substantial amount of time the Halseys saved by changing their milking system, they also save lots of labor time in other areas. Because of the weather in Michigan, the cows were confined in barns for nearly seven months out of the year.”The worst thing about the dairy business in Michigan was the weather,” Neil said. “I used to spend hours and hours a day on a loader moving feed, shoveling snow and moving manure. We would wear out that piece of equipment each year, and they cost about $28,000 each. It was expensive and time consuming.”What does Neil like most about living in the South? “The weather,” he replied. “It doesn’t get nearly as cold, and you can grow forage year-round.”What does he like least about the South? The answer is the same. The heat, he said, really takes a toll on dairy cattle. Milk production goes down because the cows have to expend so much energy to stay cool. Plus, they are content to lay in the shade rather than eat if it gets too hot.”That was the idea about incorporating the silvaculture into our farm,” Neil said. “By thinning the trees to the point where grass could be established and maintained, the cows are content to keep eating because of the natural canopy the trees provide, and they’re not standing around in manure. We also have a lot less problems with the cows’ hooves because they’re almost always on fresh grass, not standing on cement.”By using the improved pasture on the farm, the Halseys feed little supplemental protein. When they do, it’s usually soybean hulls or cottonseed. They’ve cut their feed costs from an average of $3.80 per day in Michigan to about $1.30 per day in Alabama. Handling the waste, including the time and environmental issues associated with confined dairy cows, has decreased significantly since the Halseys moved to the South. The Michigan farm had to dispose of about 60 loads of manure per month. In the year and a half since moving to Alabama, the Halseys have only emptied the waste pit four times.Relocating their farm to the South has been a rewarding experience both financially and spiritually for the Halseys. And, they’ll tell you, life just moves slower in the South.”It has been a big change for us,” Stanley said. “We moved away from everything and everybody we knew to come here. But we love it. It was a good decision. This is home now.”