Archive for the ‘pasture’ 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

7 Nov

Cover Crops Keep Carbon and Cash Where They Belong

Posted by Center for Sustainable Ag. in corn, cover crop, farming and climate change, organic, pasture, silage, soybeans, sustainable agriculture.

Originally posted on October 21, 2015 on the Farming & Climate Change Adaptation Blog

On-farm and field trials in Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont show that cover cropping produces a number of financial benefits for farmers and wider environmental benefits for the community. Cover cropping increases soil organic matter (a.k.a. carbon) and microbial diversity while suppressing weeds and stabilizing soils, which can help farmers transition to organic methods as well as improve their agricultural practices cost-effectively. Fields with a cover crop have less erosion and less runoff, meaning nutrients stay in the soils, better not only for soil quality and crop yields, but also for preserving water quality and ecosystem health.

While the benefits of cover crops researched by Northeast Extension teams in crop, field, and soils are clear, the prescribed planting methods, timing, and seeding rates need careful consideration for successful seed establishment and sufficient cover growth depending on a number of factors including the site conditions, harvesting schedules, and farmer circumstances.

In Westford, Vermont, a cover crop of radish, rye, turnip, and white clover was successfully seeded after corn was harvested at Tony Pouliot’s farm under the guidance of UVM Extension agronomy expert Heather Darby.

Pouliot was pleased to see his soil, the most valuable asset of his farm, protected – as you can see in this Across the Fence video.  Heather Darby and her team at UVM Northwest Soils and Crops provide invaluable advice to Vermont farmers in choosing appropriate cover crop seed mix, deciding on the methods and timing of planting whether before or after harvesting the cash crop, and many specifics related to the farm’s cropping systems, equipment available, location, topography and soil types.

A 2014 Cornell cover crop experiment with soybeans no-till planted into mulch from a winter cover crop at the Hudson Valley Farm Hub showed that a farm’s net profit was highest when seeding rates were double the recommended seeding rates of conventional soybean production. Five planting densities were compared and the crop population, weed suppression, and crop yields were measured.  Matthew Ryan’s report on cover cropping strategies and his research projects are part of Cornell Sustainable Cropping Systems Lab.

Soybean Yields Comparison

UVM Extension’s Northwest Crops and Soils program produces guidance and tips on interseeding cover crops for Vermont farmers growing feedstock such as corn and soybeans. Advice concerns the timing of seeding, the level and depth of seeding, available labor and proper equipment, and altering other management practice (e.g. pesticide applications and tillage), which would harm cover crops.  Importantly, research has found that cover cropping may have no negative impact on corn yields and can sometimes have a positive yield effect.

Additionally, when over-wintered cover crops are “terminated” with a roller crimper in the spring, the mulch mat which is formed suppresses weeds during the growing season for cash crops. In addition to increased profits to the farmer, the energy savings (resulting from less diesel fuel used, less fertilizers and a reduction in pesticide use) result in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the farm.

A roller-crimper in the field

And taken all together, that’s how the benefits of cover cropping reach beyond the farmer to the community and the climate.

 

24 Sep

Flexibility is Daily Theme at the Pine Island Goat Farm in Colchester, VT

Posted by Center for Sustainable Ag. in adaptation, diversified farms, farming and climate change, flooding, food systems, goats, grazing, livestock, new farmers, organic, pasture, sustainable agriculture, Uncategorized.

Originally posted on September 9, 2015 on the Farming & Climate Change Adaptation Blog

“Flexibility is absolutely the key!” declares Karen Freudenberger, as she looks below where farmers Chuda Mahoro and Theogene Dhaurali are struggling to free one of the farm’s trucks stuck in the mud in a waterlogged pasture. Karen is the Pine Island Community Farm Project Manager, guiding it into existence as a working farm from a conceptual idea formed a few years ago. The majority of the pasture land on this farm is located in the floodplain of the Winooski River, in an oxbow and surrounded on three sides by the river. While extremely fertile, with abundant forage for the 200 or more goats that graze here, the chances of flooded conditions are often present.

While springtime has always been a time of expected flooding, in recent years it has become painfully apparent that flooding can and will happen just about any time of year.

Stuck truck in wet pasture, June 2015

A truck stuck in wet pasture, June 2015

So what does flexibility look like? For the crew at Pine Island, it means the crops and gardens are not necessarily on the best agricultural soil.  Flexibility means a grazing plan that includes a “reserve” or “contingency” pasture on the higher ground at the farm that can be utilized at any time to accommodate animals for grazing, should the weather dictate the need to do so.

Pine Island Community Farm represents a partnership between the Vermont Land Trust and the Association of Africans Living in Vermont.  It supports New American farmers who wish to raise goats, chickens, or garden crops at the farm and sells pasture grown animals to families who wish to slaughter their own goats and chickens for meat.

It is a collaborative farm where each individual farm enterprise (e.g. Chuda’s goats) is run by the owner as his own small business.  Together, the business operations share the land, the barns, and the equipment.

Flood Plain Pasture, Summer 2015

Flood Plain Pasture, Summer 2015

Planning for the Unpredictable

Now in its second year of operation, and finding a rhythm with the land, livestock, and crops – the wild card remains the unpredictable weather fluctuations and learning how to work with that reality. The community gardens were placed on the upper plateau, even though the better agricultural soils are on the river plain below. But the risk of flooding and crop loss is too great on the lower level, and the financial impact could be devastating, so the decision was made to place them up above, requiring substantial amounts of soil amendments to increase the land’s fertility.

The goat enterprise is even more complicated. Since most of them arrive in late winter/early spring as very young animals, it is particularly important that their pasture not be wet or even very damp as those are the conditions most favorable for the internal parasites that can take a young animal down very quickly. Planning for this means reserving a section of the upper plateau for the initial forays onto pasture at the beginning of the grazing season. The chances of this higher elevation land being drier are much better, and lowers the probability the young animals will pick up parasites.

Once the goats have grown in size, become good grazers, learned the process of following a shepherd, and the pasture below has dried up enough – they are taken down each day to fresh forage on the river plain. However, if there is a heavy rain event, the animals are often returned to the barn, and put on hay.

Moving animals prevents parasite intake and is seen as practice for general goat health. Goats traditionally come from dry environments, and have prominent back bones, so when conditions are extremely wet, they can sometimes get a deep chill, particularly young animals. So they are returned to the barn for cover until the weather eases up enough for them to be outside again. The frequency of this procedure has increased in direct correlation with the heavy precipitation events – again an increase in cost due to the extra time and labor involved.

Barnyard and fencing at Pine Island Farm, Summer 2015

Barnyard and fencing at Pine Island Farm, Summer 2015

This June and July have proven to be exceptionally wet, and circumstances have pushed the farmers to start utilizing any areas they can find with reasonably dry pasture. Chuda explains how it affects his day and makes for inefficient labor.

“We must spend a long time scouting around for any new dry area, mowing a strip to accommodate fence set-up, putting the fence in place, and bringing the animals there. Normally, long strips would be mowed where several days or even a couple of weeks’ worth of fence line can be set up and a new paddock made each day using the section from the previous day’s paddock as the animals are rotated onto new forage each day”. The labor invested is much less when the paddocks can be made in consecutive blocks, or even close by instead of wandering all over the river plain.

This season has pushed everything to the limits. Because of the record breaking rain and wet conditions, pastures have been slow to dry up and many still have standing water in places, prohibiting their use. Livestock have been restricted to sacrificial paddocks or barnyards and fed any reserved hay from the previous season.

But for many, even the reserve stash is gone. For the same reasons, haying has been delayed and many farmers have not been able harvest any, so without any new crop and reserve supplies depleted, the only choice is to import feed from far away – a costly solution – or eke out any small opportunities close by. This means resorting to a “hunt and pick” type of operation, seeking any bit of dry pasture land that can be found to set up a grazing paddock. The inefficiency brings a greater cost to all – time spent looking and setting each area up takes a good portion of the day, and a watchful eye kept on it all should there be a need to quickly get the animals back to high ground.

30 Aug

Compromise with the Dog River

Posted by Center for Sustainable Ag. in adaptation, farming and climate change, flooding, grass farming, grazing, mitigation, organic, pasture. Tagged: .

A guest post by Catherine Lowther, PhD of Goddard College, originally posted on August 26, 2015 on the Farming & Climate Change Adaptation Blog

Nate and Jessie Rogers grow grains and keep a small herd of Jersey cows at their farm on the Dog River in Berlin, Vermont. They grow, harvest, and mill their own grain, and they sell their whole wheat flour, rolled oats, and milk on Saturdays at the Montpelier Farmers’ Market and at their farm stand.

Working with the river…

RogersFarm

The Rogers Family

The main climate change issue the Rogers have experienced is river flooding caused by heavy rains. They bought their farm four years ago after the property was flooded during Tropical Storm Irene. The farm has one mile of river frontage and the fields were completely flooded, the house was damaged, and the previous owners had to go out of business.  A foot of sand had to be removed to restore the fields and a two-acre chunk of land washed away.  When Nate and Jessie first moved to the farm, they wondered if they should fill the horseshoe-shaped area back in, but decided against it after consulting with scientists from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR).

This loss of land also eventually led to work with The Vermont Land Trust, who offered to purchase a river corridor easement from them, in effect paying them to take some of their cropland out of use. With the erosive nature of their soil and the susceptibility of their fields to flood damage, they decided to accept the easement. The easement is fifty feet wide and centered on the middle of the river channel. They can’t farm the land that is within the easement, but they can plant trees in this corridor to stabilize the riverbanks.

Outside of the easement, the Rogers have planted all their river fields in grasses and perennial crops to keep the soil covered and keep it from washing away. This means they have 20 acres of river fields that they can’t use as part of their rotation for grains, but is still in some sort of agricultural production and also addresses their bigger concern of soil loss and downstream water quality.  They see the importance of water quality, and work with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the ANR to make sure they have a healthy river that can function properly, while they still farm the land.

Catherine Lowther, PhD

Catherine is faculty in the Sustainability Program, and Chair of the Sustainability Committee at Goddard College in Plainfield, VT.  We will be collaborating with her and her students on several blog posts during this project.  Many thanks for their contributions!   

21 Aug

Moving to Higher Ground, Part 2: Expecting the Unexpected – Dairy Farming and Climate Change in Vermont

Posted by Center for Sustainable Ag. in adaptation, farming and climate change, flooding, goats, grass farming, grazing, livestock, mitigation, pasture, sustainable agriculture.

Originally posted on August 12, 2015 on the Farming & Climate Change Adaptation Blog

In part 1 of our series, Moving to Higher Ground, we talked to Amanda Andrews, owner of Tamarack Hollow Farm about her decision to move to higher ground.

For this post, we check in with Yves Gonnet, owner of Midnight Goat Farm, who also recently moved to higher ground;  he relocated his dairy goat farm from the Huntington valley to the Huntington hills in Vermont.

Midnight Goat Farm

Midnight Goat Farm

 Here are some snippets from recent conversations.

Well Suzy, it’s May 4,  2015 we’re expecting the temps to hit 78 with 12mph winds gusting up to 21mph mid day.  As a lay person who farms goats, bushes and bacteria, I have noticed some things in the past decade.  I think the operative words are “extreme” and “unpredictable.”  Colder longer, hotter faster and much much wetter (at times).

July 10, 2015.   I wish we could have three straight days of sun.  It is getting old watching hay go to seed or get pounded into the ground by rain.

July 20, 2015.  Headline weather: “Hail, Thunderstorms and Flooding Hammer New England.”  Hail the size of tennis balls fell in New Hampshire. The day will likely end up as one of the top five hottest for this summer in New England. The heat index is close to 100 in southern New England.  In Northwest Vermont, we’re spared the hailstones, but we’re sweltering with hot temperatures, then hit with heavy rains.  Hand milking goats is quite the workout.

August 11, 2015  Heavy rain in most parts of Vermont.  We’ve had 50% more rainfall since June 1, when compared to National Weather Service’s recorded normal climate as measured from 1981 to 2010.

With these observations in mind, we continued the conversation.

Center for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA):  So how does a dairy goat farmer manage weather in Vermont?  Can you describe your decision-making to move your farm to higher ground?  What role did climate change play?

Yves: We moved our farm operation to higher ground to help avoid the issues we had with flooding, increased water levels and encroaching wetlands.  We settled recently in a spot three miles from where we had been, but 500 feet higher in elevation.  A nearby water source was important to us so we selected a property which is bounded by the Baker Brook, a year round protected waterway.  Over the past seven years, we have seen the weather extremes become more intense and have sought greater elevation and easily drainable landscape to help us buffer these extremes.  Where we had been located we were more and more frequently finding ourselves trapped by the Cobb Brook unable to get our goats to pasture.

 CSA:  Have the weather-related effects of climate change been what you expected?  Have they been manageable?

Yves: I don’t think we are in a position anymore to expect weather.  It is more a matter of reacting to what it is.  So far we have been able to cope with this year’s extremes fairly well, but are always learning how to improve our systems for new surprises.

CSA:  When and how did you make the decision to move to higher ground?

Yves: We started looking for our new spot a couple years ago.  Our criteria was pretty specific so it took some time to find.  We started building fall 2014.

Picture of Midnight Goat Farm's Barn

Midnight Goat Farm’s Barn

CSA: What particular site characteristics were you looking for beyond higher ground?

Yves: We looked for southern exposure, goat forage, fruit trees, maple forest, running water and sufficient acreage.

CSA:  Moving forward, are you planning for weather changes due to climate change?

Yves: Absolutely.  We have made ourselves much more autonomous.  We provide our own solar power, have over sized waste water systems and water supplies and plan to continue to build systems, which make us less vulnerable to weather changes.

CSA:  Are climate change effects affecting your goats and kidding?  If so, how?  And how are you dealing with this?

Yves: The extreme cold of this March made kidding more difficult and dangerous for the newborns.  Fortunately, we were prepared, from prior January kiddings, for cold and quick-changing weather.  We have divided the kidding areas into well protected spaces, which allow for spot heating and complete enclosure when necessary.  We employ heated kidding boxes for newborns and have internet accessible cameras installed to monitor expectant does and their offspring.

CSA:  Is there any advice you would like to give to other farmers about climate change and its effects?

Yves: Be prepared for unpredictable weather and shortages of feed.  Don’t take water for granted.

Picture of Farmer Yves Gonnet with his Goats at the Farm's New Location

Farmer Yves Gonnet with Goats at the Farm’s New Location

 

 

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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