El2-Foragmg Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 19, 2003
Virginia Grazing School
Draws Diverse Group
GAY BROWNLEE
Virginia Correspondent
HARRISONBURG, Va.
Virginia Tech forage experts
conducted the 2nd Annual
Virginia Grazing School here
March 20-21. Owing to heavy
rains, they revised the agenda
after a scheduled farm visit
had to be postponed.
“We made the executive de
cision to not stand in a mud
hole,” said Ray Smith, Virgin
ia forage extension specialist.
The next day the first full
day of spring turned out
clear and sunny for visiting
the local farm where partici
pants were asked to plan a
grazing system using field and
soil maps.
“Goal Setting and Plan
ning” was a key topic offered
during the indoor part of the
program. This session was de
signed to help the farmer de
termine his or her status,
where he/she wants to go and,
finally, how to get there.
In another session, Chris
Teutsch, forage researcher,
spoke on plant physiology.
Teutsch covered plant re
sponse to grazing, drought
and other environmental fac
tors; photosynthesis, transpi
ration and respiration; and
carbohydrate production and
use.
“Where carbohydrates, are
determines how you manage
that plant,” Teutsch said, dis
cussing the location of a
plant’s carbohydrate reserves
in relation to its ability to pro
duce regrowth.
Ray Smith out
lined various forage
species characteris-
tics, including the
response of plant
species to grazing
and other stresses;
the optimal manage-
ment for different
forage species; com
petition in pastures,
and identifying for
age species that help
extend the grazing
season.
Smith noted the
recent discovery of a
100-foot-long alfalfa
root in a Colorado
mine. The plant ob
viously had found
the moisture it was
seeking deeper in
the earth.
“Alfalfa in Virgin
ia,” Smith said,
“probably would not
iaiuaster
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Ray Smith, Virginia
Tech forage extension
specialist, is pictured
showing matua prairie
grass.
reach a 100-foot depth as it
did in Colorado because our
soil is too acidic.”
Smith also conducted a ses
sion on the hands-on identifi
cation of forage species. He
said that kura clover is proba
bly the most difficult of the
clovers to establish.
Jon Repair, extension for
age agent, spoke on the im
portance of having fresh nitro
gen-fixing bacteria to
inoculate legume seeds.
“It’s better to inoculate seed
yourself than to buy seed that
is pre-inoculated,” Repair
mg Qriiiion m i
said. A problem with buying
pre-inoculated seed is that
farmers often don’t know the
amount of time that passed
since it was inoculated.
Mike Phillips, a grazier near
Harrisonburg, spoke about his
experiences with bermu
dagrass.
The recent, prolonged Vir
ginia drought was the spring
board for Phillips’ bermu
dagrass experiments.
The bermudagrass he seed
ed survived two winters before
this past winter. It remains to
be seen what impact this
year’s colder-than-usual
weather may have had.
“This was the winter to
prove whether or not bermu
dagrass is cold-tolerant,”
Phillips said.
No matter how well bermu
dagrass does for Phillips, he
said he will continue to grow
cool season forages such as al
falfa.
Other topics explored at the
school included soils and fer
tility; forage quality; and the
economics of forage systems
and risk assessment.
Beside Smith, Teutsch, and
Repair, Virginia Tech special
ists contributing to the school
included Joe Tritscher, small
ruminant extension specialist;
Greg Mullins, nutrient man
agement specialist; Gordon
Groover, extension economist;
Glen Johnson, NRCS state
forage agronomist; and Susan
Gay, agricultural engineering
specialist.
z
Stream Bank Fencing
And Riparian Buffers
Benefit Farmers
David Wise
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Stream bank fencing and
buffers can benefit livestock
producers in a number of
ways. These include:
• Improved herd health.
Clean, dry cattle are healthier
cattle. Wet, muddy conditions
increase the risk of mastitis,
foot problems, and other seri
ous illnesses. Controlled ac
cess at stabilized crossings also
reduces foot and leg injuries
from steep, slippery banks,
and rock creek bottoms.
• Improved biosecurity.
Water is a very effective
means for spreading many
disease organisms. Efforts to
control disease on one farm
may be undone if livestock
have unlimited contact with a
stream used by other herds
upstream. Stream bank fenc
ing can improve biosecurity
on the farm and for other pro
ducers downstream.
• Better drinking water for
livestock. Milk cows are par
ticularly sensitive to drinking
water quality and will de
crease their intake if water
quality is poor. Better water
quality promotes high intake,
which is needed for higher lev
els of milk production.
• Options for pasture man
agement. Stream bank fencing
splits a typical pasture in two.
Once the electrified stream
bank fence is in place, cre
ating additional paddocks is
cheap and easy. Improved
management options can sig
nificantly increase the effi
ciency of pasture use.
• Good public relations.
Agencies and the public are
increasingly aware of farm
management, especially how
it affects streams. Stream
bank fencing is a very notice
able commitment to clean
water and a strong “good
neighbor” policy.
• Stewardship of the land.
Buffers provide habitat for a
host of wildlife from songbirds
to waterfowl to game animals.
Improvements to fish habitat
are large and rapid. Reduced
bank erosion protects property
like fields, buildings, lanes,
and bridges.
Contact your local
dealer for details.
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