Archive for the ‘cattle’ Category

26 Jun

Developing Critical Knowledge on a Working Farm

Posted by Center for Sustainable Ag. in biodiversity, cattle, cover crop, food systems, grass farming, grazing, irrigation, livestock, pasture, soil health, sustainable agriculture, Uncategorized.

To affect the working landscape, we know we have to start small – “small” as in the tiny particles and droplets and microbes that make up healthy soil. We start with the microcosm of the soil for a simple reason: if we want a vibrant Vermont with clean water, great food and a robust farm economy, we need to make sure farmers can build the health of their soils.

That seemingly simple premise is at the foundation of much of the work of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture.  And it’s the guiding force behind the research that’s being hosted by Philo Ridge Farm, where Pasture Program Technical Coordinator Juan Alvez, Ph.D., is engaged in several long-term applied projects to investigate the practices with the highest promise for productivity and profitability, as well as building and maintaining ecological balance with the land.

Doing this means looking in depth at many of the elements of the farm’s systems, investigating how soil, crops, animals and forest can all thrive.  We seek to understand more about how a healthy farm ecosystem can support a profitable business, and under what conditions.

Among the questions we’re asking are:

  • Can we combine agroforestry practices in ways that contribute to animal health and growth as well as providing benefits to soil, water and wildlife?
  • What forage species can grow well in a partly forested (shaded) area, and serve the multiple purposes of promoting animal weight gain while helping break up compacted soils? (Curious about these?  We’ll share some of Juan’s early observations: “Based on last year, the most productive species was sorghum sudangrass.  And we saw that reed canarygrass will outcompete everything else, so we’re pulling that out to see what kind of species diversity we can encourage.”)
  • How can the practice of bedded pack barns contribute to animal comfort as well as building soil fertility?
  • Can we combine precision irrigation with “cocktail cover crops” to keep land, plants and animals as healthy and productive as possible, ameliorating the “summer slump” and grazing longer into the winter as well?

We look forward to sharing information with farmers, colleagues and other researchers at upcoming pasture walks and in upcoming newsletters and articles.

In the meantime, want to know more?

  • Read more about the research project on the Center’s Research pages.
  • Plan to attend the August 15 Field Day at the farm to learn about the research, have a pasture walk with noted grazing consultant Jim Gerrish, and meet members of the Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition.  Register here.
  • Contact Principal Investigator Juan Alvez with questions.
  • And if you’re interested in joining a group of passionate volunteers (representing farmers, gardeners, seed savers, researchers and professionals, including several staff members from the Center for Sustainable Agriculture) in the Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition – an online discussion group that one member describes as “volunteers with an interest in shifting the paradigm of how people interface with the land. We operate under the premise that we can restore land water cycles by covering Vermont’s bare soil; nurturing photosynthesis and the biology underground,” please feel free to join the group and let members know how you’d like to participate by taking this short survey.

Originally published in the Center’s Fresh from the Field newsletter, June 2017

15 Dec

How managing for increased biodiversity can help farmers

Posted by Center for Sustainable Ag. in biodiversity, cattle, cover crop, diversified farms, grass farming, grazing, livestock, organic, pasture, soil health, sustainable agriculture.

By Juan P. Alvez, Ph.D., Pasture Technical Coordinator.  Originally posted  December 11, 2015 on the Vermont Pasture Network Blog

Root depth and structure of forage species

Pasture diversity increases farm resiliency

In 2013, our research team* embarked on a collaborative, long-term study focused on understanding how ecologic habitat disruption is associated with livestock wellbeing and health, and how that can affect society.

This is far from a local or unique issue. With human population growing above 7 billion people, a demand for higher living standards, including dairy products as more people seek access to all forms of animal protein as part of a more affluent lifestyle, is ever increasing.

Meeting this demand requires both advancing the agricultural frontier and an intensification of the production process, burdening already-degraded ecosystems, and impacting habitats, forests, biodiversity, soils, water and rural livelihoods. There is strong evidence that agriculture receives (and may provide), a diverse array of benefits from healthy ecosystems, and it also worsens problems when it disrupts them.

Cows grazing diverse pastures at Choiniere Farm

Cows grazing diverse pastures at Choiniere Farm

We suggest that managing for increased biological diversity in pasture-based dairy production systems positively contributes to improved livestock well-being, health and productivity, and creates a positive feedback ecological service loop. It has been demonstrated that minimally disturbed soils, adequate access to a diverse, high quality forage mix, and clean water are associated with bovine wellbeing and milk quality. Dairy cows support numerous microbial communities, including mutually beneficial relationships with their microbial

symbionts (rumen microbiota). These cellulolytic bacteria break down plant materials, providing cows with a source of energy and nutrients. An understanding of the response of ruminant and environmental microbial communities to specific management practices will provide an opportunity to both optimize farm productivity and enhance ecosystem-based management.

Well-balanced cool season pastures at Choiniere Farm

Well-balanced cool season pastures at Choiniere Farm

We had an integral approach to soils, forage and diet, rumen microbiology, grazing activity and milk quality, to evaluate how cows were affected.  We hypothesize that biodiversity affects livestock well-being, health, and productivity, and that it may also affect cows’ grazing behaviors.  To explore this, we studied how the relationship between grazing time and diet alters rumination activity, rumen pH and health, milk composition and productivity.

Cows that grazed on diverse pastures presented higher concentrations of poly unsaturated fatty acids than when grazing a monoculture; they were able to transfer conjugated linoleic acid and omega-3 fatty acids from these pastures into the milk. We did not find any effects between pasture diet type and lying time but, there were differences among cows in laying time where higher producing cows had longer lying times.

Cows wearing electronic loggers (wrapped in low-hind left leg) for grazing activity

Cows wearing electronic loggers (wrapped in low-hind left leg) for grazing activity

Overall we determined that pasture-based livestock who graze on pastures managed for increased biodiversity can help to improve soil health, optimize forage utilization, rumen activity, milk composition and quality reduce costs, and increase net farm income.

By optimizing these production parameters, pasture-based dairy farmers can simultaneously advance cattle health and well-being, reduce operational costs and environmental impacts and produce the healthy dairy products society is demanding. We hope that our work can explain the importance of maintaining a healthy ecosystem for Vermont farms. Full results will be published on a scientific article.

 

*Research Team (alphabetical order): Juan Alvez, John Barlow, Melissa Bainbridge, Emily Golf, Jana Kraft, Robert Mugabe and Joe Roman

Sponsors: UVM Reach Grant & NE-SARE Grant

17 Aug

Soil Moisture Sensors Can Help Manage Grazing

Posted by Center for Sustainable Ag. in cattle, farming and climate change, grass farming, grazing, livestock, pasture, sustainable agriculture, Uncategorized.

As predictions for the Northeastern U.S. suggest wetter, warmer climate in the near future, the use of technology such as precision agriculture can be of great use to enable a more sustainable modern day farming.

One of the tools the UVM Extension Center for Sustainable Agriculture is using to evaluate, for among other things, the most appropriate moment to graze, are soil moisture sensors (SMS). They can track real-time water movement and record information that can be instantly viewed on a computer or a smartphone.

Soil moisture varies depending on soil types, precipitation and temperature. Soil moisture devices can be used under several ground cover conditions, and can help create moisture maps of the areas by the use of global positioning systems (GPS) at any given time in the season.

By using devices such as SMS, farmers are able to make real-time decisions about where they will place their animals or establish crops without causing soil compaction or destroying ground cover.

In 2015, we installed three-SMS at Health Hero Farm in South Hero, Vermont as part of a 3-year USDA NRCS funded research. Farmer Eric Nöel, who grazes about 80 cows at at Health Hero, welcomes cutting-edge research that can help him and other farmers take instant action on farm management decisions. Nöel understands that placing animals or running machinery on wet soils can quickly aggravate soil physical conditions like structure, compaction and infiltration.

We look forward to presenting results from this project as we go on.  In the meantime:

  • Please visit here for more information about this research project.
  • Please visit here for more about the Center’s Pasture Program.
Picture of Installation of Soil Moisture Sensor

Farming & Climate Change Coordinator Joshua Faulkner places a Soil Moisture Monitor in a Health Hero Farm pasture

 

Installed Monitors, Front View

Installed Soil Moisture Sensors, Front View

2 Jul

When Planning for the Summer Slump on Your Pasture, Consider Pearl Millet

Posted by Center for Sustainable Ag. in cattle, grass farming, grazing, pasture, summer.

Originally posted on June 3, 2015 on the Vermont Pasture Network Blog

Getting ready for mid-summer dry weather for your grazing animals? Pearl millet may be a great annual option because of its incredible resiliency.

Pearl millet or Millet [Pennisetum americanum (L.) R. Br. is a warm season annual grass that is well-adapted to fertile soils. With proper management millet can easily yield around 10 ton of forage to the acre, right when cool-season forages nearly stop growing due to hydric stress. Millet has an excellent quality, with low tannins and high protein, calcium, phosphorus and digestibility levels. Additionally, preliminary [non-conclusive] results of a study conducted in Vermont evidence that its fatty acid profile is similar to that of the diverse cool-season forages in the Northeastern U.S. These benefits show up in the milk or meat of animals that graze it, delivering excellent health benefits.

Cows Grazing Millet

Many more photos of millet at different times in the growing season are available with the original post: http://blog.uvm.edu/pasture-vtpasture/2015/06/03/when-planning-for-the-summer-slump-consider-pearl-millet/

Millet loves heat and it is drought tolerant but can endure wet soils. It must be established in early summer (by the end of May, beginning of June), at the average rate of 20 pounds per acre. It can be potentially ready to be grazed around mid-July on. If carefully managed, it can yield two or even three grazing rotations until the first frost.

Millet can be used for grazing, hay, silage or green-chop. Pasture management research and observation recommends to start grazing millet before boot stage, when it reaches between 18 and 24 inches high, leaving about 10 to 12 inches of residue. Millet can take a lot of grazing pressure and animals must be allowed to graze a paddock for a few hours per day or, rotated as many times as needed per day. The use of strip-grazing with a back fence is strongly recommended to promote faster re-growth while avoiding damaging it.Prussic acid is not a concern in Pearl Millet but nitrate poisoning can be a problem if, a) high nitrogen fertilization rates are applied, b) prolonged droughts are followed by rain; and c) encountering any condition that kills the plant but not the roots such as, frost, hail, grazing and trampling, etc.

In a study we conducted during 2014 at a farm in Highgate, Vermont, we drilled 7 acres of millet on a beaten “sacrifice” paddock. Millet was exposed to different levels of grazing pressure: light, medium and heavly grazed. In each condition, its re-growth was impressively vigorous, even when plants looked heavily grazed and with little chances of recovering.

So, when planning your next cover crop give Pearl Millet a try!

You can find more resources about pearl millet below:

Juan Alvez, Ph.D., Pasture Program Technical Coordinator

Have you explored different successful forage ideas to overcome the summer slump and have a more uniform livestock production along the season? You can share your observations by dropping us a line at the UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture Pasture Program:  Juan Alvez (jalvez@uvm.edu); Kimberly Hagen (kimberly.hagen@uvm.edu) and, Jennifer Colby (jcolby@uvm.edu)

*Any reference to commercial products, trade names, websites or brand names is for information only, and no endorsement or approval is intended.

 

28 Apr

When it Comes to Farms, the Right Size Matters

Posted by Center for Sustainable Ag. in cattle, diversified farms, farming and climate change, grass farming, grazing, livestock, pasture, sustainable agriculture.

Kimberly Hagen, Pasture Program
Originally published in the Center’s Cultivating Connections Newsletter, April 2015

Grazing Cows

This Connecticut River Valley farm is owned by farmers who pay a great deal of attention to the balance they need to keep their farm at the right size for their goals, their animals’ health, and the capacity of their land.

Right-sizing: it’s what all farms must do if they are to stay profitable, and in balance, preserving the integrity of the soil, water and air, both on the farm and in the surrounding environment. As the water quality issue moves Vermont and its agricultural community into deeper levels of debate on how to address the issue, it’s clear that each farm must also work to find that “right size.”

Each farm has a unique set of variables due to its bedrock, soils, topography, water ( both underground and on the surface), type of livestock, vegetation and owner. It’s not unlike baking a cake. You lay out the ingredients, and then mix in proper proportion for taste, lightness and the fit to the pan it will be baked in. If the proportions are off, it won’t taste good, it may not rise, and it won’t fit in the pan, and overflow onto the oven floor makes for a tedious clean-up. That can happen with farms too.

Unfortunately, overflow from a farm is more than just tedious, it is costly: nutrients are lost and overloaded vegetation, soil and water sputter with the suffocation in a toxic brew or starve with overtaxing removal of nutrients needed for reproduction. The productivity potential is lost. Not only does the farm lose, but we all do as that toxicity taxes the farm’s soil and water and the local community’s collectively owned environment, lessening its productivity as well.

For example, if the wet areas or streams on your farm look like chocolate milk every time there is precipitation, nutrients are not being absorbed on the farm, and instead are making a quick exit. If you find you are feeding your animals stored feed by the beginning of July, you might want to think about reevaluating your land: livestock ratio, or at least your current management of them. These are signals of a need for better balance, and a change in management is often the simplest, and least expensive approach for getting started. Buffalo, cows and horses are heavy animals with 1000 pounds and more distributed on four feet. Confine them to a small area for weeks or months and it doesn’t take long before problems arise. Equally disruptive is frequent tillage and constant bare soil exposure. Moving air and water can hastily capture the freely floating nutrients, and carry them away, dropping them where they might not be needed or wanted – like a nearby lake or river..

Not long ago, I listened to a farmer describing the journey he had made after rejecting the conventional practices expected for a farming operation. He rejected that path because he was losing so much money, yet working harder than ever, and had no time with his family. His farm was not healthy and neither was he. Yet farming was his choice of profession. He decided to trust his own observations and judgement and after several years of trials seeking the match for the soils, the water, the vegetation, the livestock and the quality of life he wanted, he found the right size for his farm.

The familiarity was instant – this is a concept that I, like many of my colleagues, carry around in my mind. It’s succinct and descriptive. And it really is the core of what we do – working with farmers to find the right balance, that sweet spot of what the farm has for ingredients, its potential for productivity, and considering how best to manage those ingredients for the best possible outcome for meeting today’s needs. All while keeping a careful eye towards continued productivity into a sustainable future.

As one of UVM Extension’s technical service providers, I walk a careful path: listening to what farmers want, providing them with the information from research, yet also informing them of the parameters shaped by both the natural world and by humans. Our ultimate purpose is to help farmers find the farm practices and size that meet their own needs and goals, while maintaining balance with their community and natural resources.

This coming field season, we move into some new territory in the Connecticut River watershed (see pg. 7 of the Spring 2015 newsletter) . We look forward to working with farmers to find the right size for their operations – keeping the soil and water on their farms and in the river, clean, healthy and productive.

 

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