{"id":2122,"date":"2017-07-06T14:54:25","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T18:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/?p=2122"},"modified":"2017-07-06T16:29:45","modified_gmt":"2017-07-06T20:29:45","slug":"upcoming-opportunity-for-farmers-to-develop-grazing-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/upcoming-opportunity-for-farmers-to-develop-grazing-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"UPCOMING OPPORTUNITY FOR FARMERS TO DEVELOP GRAZING PLANS"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Cheryl Cesario<\/a>, Grazing Outreach Professional<\/p>\n

When farmers are considering grazing as a new management practice, or want to change or improve an existing system, there are many questions from both the animal perspective and the land perspective: Is this going to work? Will my animals like it? What will this look like? How will I do it?<\/p>\n

These are all reasonable questions, which are not easily answered in a one or two-hour farm visit. I find the most successful grazing systems develop when there is farmer involvement in the planning process, and the farmer has a good relationship with a service provider and other farmers who can answer questions and share ideas.<\/p>\n

This fall we will start offering a new grazing management course for farmers who want to learn about the benefits and challenges of grazing \u2013 from both economic and environmental perspectives. Each farmer will develop a plan specific to their operation which takes into account their
\nfarm goals. The class will meet once per week over the course of a month, and each farmer will receive a copy of Sarah Flack\u2019s book The Art and
\nScience of Grazing as the course textbook and helpful future reference. Outside of class, one-on-one farm visits will provide additional support
\nas new practices and strategies are implemented on the ground.<\/p>\n

Here is a sampling of what the class will cover:<\/em>
\n\u2022 Pasture plant identification of common species, looking at favorable growth conditions and how plants respond to grazing impact.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pasture nutrition \u2013 how it can affect grazing behavior, overall intake, and animal performance.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Grazing management concepts such as measuring dry matter availability, determining paddock sizes, stocking rate versus stock
\ndensity and overall acreage requirements.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Soil health in pasture systems and the benefits of soil, forage and manure testing to understand nutrient cycling and nutrient management within pasture systems.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pasture system design to determine infrastructure needs, and management techniques to avoid overgrazing damage, decreased
\ncarrying capacity and other negative impacts.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Grazing record keeping systems and the benefits of monitoring and documenting activities.<\/p>\n

Eligible farmers will be able to use the grazing plan they develop in class to apply for USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) funding opportunities to help cost-share a variety of grazing practices. However, new infrastructure alone will not create improvements. Achieving healthy pasture ecosystems requires an understanding of the relationship between the soil, the plants and livestock grazing behavior. A clear goal and a plan based on plant and animal needs are essential for success. We anticipate the course will run from mid-October to mid-November, with up to 12 hours of classroom and planning time. If you are interested in participating, or want to know more, please contact me:
\ncheryl.cesario@uvm.edu<\/a>; (802) 388-4969 x346<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Successful grazing plans can include laneways to reduce mud and erosion, as seen in photos before installation (above left) and after (above right). Stream crossings and water tubs eliminate animal impact on surface waters (below).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Cheryl Cesario, Grazing Outreach Professional When farmers are considering grazing as a new management practice, or want to change or improve an existing system, there are many questions from both the animal perspective and the land perspective: Is this going to work? Will my animals like it? What will this look like? How will … Continue reading “UPCOMING OPPORTUNITY FOR FARMERS TO DEVELOP GRAZING PLANS”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1049,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[601703,420899],"tags":[420941,420935],"class_list":["post-2122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grazing-herd-management","category-newsletter","tag-grazing-plans","tag-summer-2017-newsletter"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1049"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2122"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2133,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2122\/revisions\/2133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}