Enough Grass to Make Your Head… Rotate: the Keys to Rotational Grazing —Wylie Harris
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Costs to Implement Rotational Grazing
Do You Have Problems With: • Low pasture yields • Low quality pasture • Weeds in the pasture • Poor livestock condition • Supplementing hay in summer pastures • Large bare spots in the pasture • Numerous livestock paths across the pasture Rotational grazing provides higher quality and better Rotational Grazing Can Help yielding forage. Benefits of Rotational Grazing: • Increased pasture yields • Better quality pastures • Carry more animals on the same acreage • Feed less hay • Better distribution of manure nutrients throughout the pasture • Healthier livestock • Improved income ($$) Healthy pastures = Healthy and productive livestock Costs to Implement Rotational Grazing • Example: A 40 acre pasture divided into 4 pastures can cost as little as $200 for single strand fencing. • To distribute water will be about $.50/foot of water line. • A portable watering trough costs about $100 to $160. Portable watering tank connected to a hose Rotational Grazing Components needed: • Light-weight fencing to subdivide large pasture areas – poly-wire, poly-tape, high tensile wire, electric netting, reels, rods for stringing fence on, fence charger, ground rods, lightning arrestors • Portable water troughs with pipeline if stationary trough is over 800 feet away from some of the pasture area • Handling area for livestock used to load and unload animals or work on them Planning a rotational grazing system A low cost single strand fence works well for dividing pastures. A rotational grazing system works best when the num- ber of livestock equals the carrying capacity of the pas- ture system. If livestock are overstocked then addi- tional hay will need to be provided. Generally 20-30 days are needed to rest pastures dur- ing rapid growth periods and 40 or more days during slow growth periods. -
A Biodiversity-Friendly Rotational Grazing System Enhancing Flower
A biodiversity-friendly rotational grazing system enhancing flower-visiting insect assemblages while maintaining animal and grassland productivity Simone Ravetto Enri, Massimiliano Probo, Anne Farruggia, Laurent Lanore, Andre Blanchetete, Bertrand Dumont To cite this version: Simone Ravetto Enri, Massimiliano Probo, Anne Farruggia, Laurent Lanore, Andre Blanchetete, et al.. A biodiversity-friendly rotational grazing system enhancing flower-visiting insect assemblages while maintaining animal and grassland productivity. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, Elsevier Masson, 2017, 241, pp.1-10. 10.1016/j.agee.2017.02.030. hal-01607171 HAL Id: hal-01607171 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01607171 Submitted on 26 May 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike| 4.0 International License Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 241 (2017) 1–10 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/agee A biodiversity-friendly -
To Devote Their Lands Continuously to Sheep-Breeding
THE CHARACTER OF VILLEIN TENURE.1 STUDENTS of Economic History have of late years begun to awake to the fact that during the period of the Tudors, and over a considerable area of England, there took place an agrarian revolution which altered the whole aspect of country life. This revolution was the substitu- tion of pasture for tillage, of pasture with large and enclosed farms for tillage on the old intermixed or open-field system. Its significance we still further appreciate when we notice that, after a time, the new generation of farmers set- &dquo; tled down to what is known as a convertible husbandry.&dquo; To devote their lands continuously to sheep-breeding did not turn out quite so profitable as was at first expected; and it was seen to be expedient to plough up the pasture every few years for a harvest or two. What took place at this time in England was, accordingly, only the English phase of the great movement from open-field tillage to enclosed convertible husbandry, which manifested itself during the same or a somewhat later period over a large part of Western Europe. I propose in this paper to deal with but a part of this revolution, and that in only one of its aspects. It has been recently said by an eminent writer,’ that while there is plenty of work still to be done on earlier social history, for this middle period little more can be desired. Its main features, we are told, are already quite clear; the materials necessary for the student’s purpose have been printed, and are easily accessible. -
Intensive Rotational Grazing of Romney Sheep As a Control for the Spread of Persicaria Perfoliata
INTENSIVE ROTATIONAL GRAZING OF ROMNEY SHEEP AS A CONTROL FOR THE SPREAD OF PERSICARIA PERFOLIATA A Final Report of the Tibor T. Polgar Fellowship Program Caroline B. Girard Polgar Fellow Biodiversity, Conservation and Policy Program University at Albany Albany, NY 12222 Project Advisor: G.S. Kleppel Biodiversity, Conservation and Policy Program Department of Biological Sciences University at Albany Albany, NY 12222 Girard, C.B. and Kleppel, G.S. 2011. Intensive Rotational Grazing of Romney Sheep as a Control for the Spread of Persicaria perfoliata. Section III: 1-22 In D.J. Yozzo, S.H. Fernald and H. Andreyko (eds.), Final Reports of the Tibor T. Polgar Fellowship Program, 2009. Hudson River Foundation. III- 1 ABSTRACT The invasive species Persicaria perfoliata (mile-a-minute) is threatening native plant communities by displacing indigenous plant species in 10 of the coterminous United States including New York. This study investigated the effectiveness of a novel protocol, intensive rotational targeted grazing, for controlling the spread of P. perfoliata. Three Romney ewes (Ovis aries) were deployed into a system of four experimental paddocks, each approximately 200 m2, at sites invaded by P. perfoliata in the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation (Cross River, Westchester County, NY). The ewes were moved from one experimental paddock to the next at 2-3 d intervals. Four adjacent, ungrazed reference paddocks were also delineated for comparison with the experimental paddocks. A suite of plant community attributes (cover classes, species richness and composition), as well attributes of individual P. perfoliata plants (stem density, inflorescence) were monitored in the experimental and reference paddocks from June 24 to August 7, 2009. -
Dairy Farmer Profitability Using Intensive Rotational Stocking
Dairy Farmer Profitability Using United States Department of Intensive Rotational Agriculture Natural Stocking Resources Conservation Service Better grazing management Grazing Lands for pastures Technology Institute In 1992, Pennsylvania State University researchers conducted a study of the profitability of dairy farms practicing intensive rotational grazing. The 52 cooperating farmers were selected completely at random, with a stratified random sample statistical design, from among nearly 15 percent, or 350 farmers, practic- ing intensive grazing in a five-county region of northeastern Pennsylvania—Bradford, Tioga, Susquehanna, Wyoming, and Wayne Counties. The results from this study reflect typical use of intensive rotational stocking. The randomness of the sample selection ensures that the results reported here are representative, and can most likely be achieved by the typical farmer. September 1996 For additional copies of this publication, contact— Grazing Lands Technology Institute USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service P.O. 6567 Fort Worth, Texas 76115 Dairy Farmer Profitability Using Intensive Rotational Stocking Figure 1. In a study of dairy farmer practices in a five-county area of northeastern Pennsylvania, farmers using pasture cut feed costs and increased profit per cow. One of the first representative studies of dairy Why typical dairy farmers adopt farmers practicing intensive rotational stocking was intensive rotational stocking conducted by Pennsylvania State University. The grazing method is defined as rotation of grazing cows In this 1992 study, the main reasons cited by dairy among several small pasture subunits called pad- farmers (fig. 2) for adopting intensive rotational docks versus stocking for continuously grazing one stocking were reduced costs and labor, they had large pasture. -
Assessment of Cultural Practices in the High Mountain Eastern Mediterranean Landscape Al-Shouf Cedar Society CEPF
Assessment of Cultural Practices in the High Mountain Eastern Mediterranean Landscape Al-Shouf Cedar Society CEPF 0 INDEX The Study Area- Shouf Biosphere Reserve 02 Introduction 03 1. The Shouf Biosphere Reserve (SBR) ……………………………………………….……………………………………………………… 04 A. Legal status of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve 04 B. Physical characteristics 04 C. Natural characteristics 05 D. Socio-economic feature 07 2. Assessment……………………………………………….……………………………………………….……………………………………………….……………………………….. 09 • Literature Review 09 • Overview 10 • Introduction 11 A. Traditional agricultural practices in the Levantine Mountains 12 B. Some general recommendations 13 C. Guidelines 15 D. Traditional Agricultural Techniques 24 E. Best Agricultural Practices 25 F. Additional Best Management Practices 26 G. Livestock: 30 • Conclusion of Literature Review: 31 • Special mention 32 • References in English: 34 3. Biodiversity in Lebanon……………………………………………….……………………………………………….……………………………………….. 37 4. Survey……………………………………………….……………………………………………….……………………………………………….……………………………………………….………… 41 5. Monitoring of Biodiversity Programme in the Shouf Biosphere ………………….…. 42 Reserve 6. Biodiversity and Cultural Practices at the at the SBR……………………………………………….…….. 47 7. Recommendations……………………………………………….……………………………………………….……………………………………………….………………… 48 A. Agriculture: 49 B. Water management: 51 C. Promotion of Ecotourism: 52 8. Information sheet……………………….……………………………………………….……………………………………………….………………………………………….. 54 A. Agriculture 54 B. Grazing 60 1 The Study Area- Shouf Biosphere Reserve 2 -
Alternate Husbandry and Permanent Pasture in the Midlands, 1650-1800 by JOHN BROAD
Alternate Husbandry and Permanent Pasture in the Midlands, 1650-1800 By JOHN BROAD ECENT discussion of agriculture in of England. By alternating arable and pasture the period 1500-1800 has been much on a given piece of land farmers almost R influenced by Dr Kerridge' s eliminated the need for fallows between their Agricultural Revolution which, in his own grain crops and were able to control the words, consisted of 'the floating of water- quality of their pasture by sowing grass seeds. meadows, the substitution of up-and-down Such systems have a faultless intellectual husbandry for permanent tillage and pedigree: historically they were consistently permanent grass or for shifting cultivation, advocated by agricultural writers from the introduction of new fallow crops and Fitzherbert onwards, and have been shown by selected grasses, marsh drainage, manuring, Slicher van Bath to have played an important and stock breeding' .1 The importance of these part in agricultural improvements on the changes has been generally accepted by his North German Plain and in the Netherlands; critics, but they have stressed the slow agriculturally they have been extolled by diffusion of these techniques and have twentieth-century soil scientists as the best doubted the quantitative effect on the way to keep high fertility on both arable and economy before the eighteenth century at the pasture and to retain excellent soil texture and very least. This paper examines 'the backbone composition. 3 of the agricultural revolution', 'up-and-down In sixteenth- and seventeenth-century husbandr'y (otherwise known as alternate England there is plentiful evidence that husbandry or ley farming), in the midlands, despite rising grain prices and land hunger, where Dr Kerridge found its introduction new arable/grass rotations were introduced 'revolutionary'.Z It argues that while up until quite widely. -
Lecture No. 6B: on 17 October 2012
SUMMARIES OF LECTURES in ECO 303Y1: the Economic History of Modern Europe, to 1914 for the Academic Year: 2012 - 2013 **************************** VI. Week no. 6: Lecture no. 6b: on 17 October 2012 The English ‘Agricultural Revolution’: Part II (conclusion) c) The Economic Advantages of the New Husbandry, with Enclosures: 1660 - 1740 i) greater income stability for farmers – with greater crop + livestock diversification ii) better, year-round feeding of livestock: stall-feeding from fodder crops iii) better livestock management + selective breeding iv) End of periodic famines – with better nutrition (unlike France) v) much increased agricultural productivity (per acre land, per unit manpower) allowing farmers to cope better with the price-cost squeeze of the Agrarian Recession (1660-1740) vi) but not all farmers were able to engage in the New Husbandry: especially the yeomanry # lacked sufficient capital # had not enclosed their lands or acquired enclosed farms from landlords d) The Plight of the Small Yeomen Grain farmers during the agrarian recession, 1660 - 1740: i) suffered from a severe and growing price-cost squeeze: (1) grain prices were falling, often steeply, as already shown (2) but real factor prices were either constant or generally rising ii) deflation: almost always raises input or factor costs, because of factor-price stickiness: (1) thus wages (labour), rents (land), and interest (on borrowed capital) do not fall – often because they have fixed by long-term contracts (2) if commodity prices fall – output prices for farmers, -
What Is Rotational Grazing and Why Is It So Important?
What is Rotational Grazing and Why Is It So Important? To address environmental, economic and social issues through one method of agricultural management affecting the most acreage, choose grazing. Rotational grazing, management‐intensive grazing, rational grazing or holistic grazing are all methods to describe the movement of animals through subdivided pasture areas. The key elements to a successful grazing system are the limited time animals stay in each paddock and the amount of rest the pasture plants receive before being grazed again. In a healthy grazing system plant roots grow deeply into the ground, plant leaves harvest solar energy and cycles of water, minerals, energy and community dynamics are in balance. 1) Grazing has been proven to lower feed expenses, reduce nutrient loading in our waterways, stabilize farm financial longevity, and create an aesthetic working landscape. With the increasing pressures on Vermont farms, these benefits are critical to maintaining many farms in this state. 2) Research has shown that grazing production systems require less fuel than those that depend heavily on machinery and pesticide inputs, drying crops, ventilating buildings and the use of inorganic fertilizers. 3) Because much of the agricultural land in the state is best suited for forage production because of soil, site and climatic limitations, sustainability of agriculture in the region depends on keeping forage‐based livestock systems competitive and profitable while protecting the environment. 4) Consumers are choosing grass‐fed meat and milk on stores shelves, as measured through the 2010 Vermonter Poll. 49% of respondents indicated they purchased grass‐fed meat in the previous 12 months. -
Integrated Soil Improvement and Agricultural Development in West Africa: Why Current Policy Approaches Fail *)
INTEGRATED SOIL IMPROVEMENT AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN WEST AFRICA: WHY CURRENT POLICY APPROACHES FAIL *) N. Koning, N. Heerink and S. Kauffman Wageningen University Department of Agricultural Economics and Policy PO Box 8130 6700 EW Wageningen The Netherlands [email protected] Wageningen University Department of Development Economics PO Box 8130 6700 EW Wageningen The Netherlands [email protected] Abstract Integrated soil management is an essential condition for agricultural development in West Africa. Such an approach combines improved soil hydraulic measures, organic fertility measures, and inorganic fertilizers and soil amendments. The synergetic effects which result from this combination are indispensable for achieving the productivity increases needed to cope with the increasing pressure of population. Current (neo-liberal and ecological- participationist) policy approaches are unable to realize the transition towards integrated soil management technologies. The time lags involved in learning to use new technologies, in the adaptation of technologies to local circumstances, and in reaping the benefits of soil fertility investments call for (at least temporary) support of agricultural incomes. Key words: structural adjustment, agricultural policy, soil degradation, soil management, sustainable intensification, food security, West Africa 1 Introduction Unlike other parts of the world, the relative incidence of undernutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa has not decreased but rather seems to have slightly increased over recent decades.(1) A prospective study undertaken for FAO in 1992-93 expected that this situation would hardly improve before 2010. Even this modest expectation was based on an optimistic assumption of a 3.0% annual growth in agricultural production, 2.0% in cereal yields, and 3.3% in fertilizer use per hectare (Alexandratos 1995: 80, 146, 164, 192). -
Rotational Grazing, More Roots, Less Plowing Key Recommended
UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture Grass Farming Research: Rotational Grazing, More roots, less plowing building soil health on a Champlain Valley Research Farm About the research Our project is taking place on a 400-acre Champlain Valley diversified beef farm with long previous use as a dairy operation. Its recent history includes heavy tillage and synthetic inputs, and the increased frequency of extreme weather events, which both have contributed to soil erosion and disaggregation and resulted in degraded fields. The Center’s research team is helping the current farmers recover the soils by monitoring and researching soil health and pasture forage ecosystems as they relate to the production of high-quality, grass-fed, grass-finished beef.’ We see pasture-based farming as an inseparable triad of well-functioning soils, abundant and high quality forages, and healthy livestock animals in a constant and balanced rotation. In viewing the farm ecosystem in this way, we recognize the complexities involved in regenerative practices, and see cows as drivers of resiliency and sustainability in the process. The assumption we are testing is that having high stock density animals graze on hayfields for short intervals will improve the health of the soil. Preliminary results indicate that well-managed grazing can improve soils and a farm’s productivity without synthetic fertilizers, and without great additional expense - as many grass-based farmers have believed for years. key recommended practices for building soil health Animals graze all fields at Organic amendments (on-farm Soils are kept well covered with least once per year, so that bedded pack compost and a diverse vegetated sward, with microorganisms and nutrients low formulation Pro-Gro*) can plants at least 4” tall. -
Agroforestry at Wright-Locke Farm
9 Old State Route 213, High Falls, NY 12440 / PO Box 3, High Falls, NY 12440 • [email protected] • 845-377-5444 Agroforestry at Wright-Locke Farm Master Plan Design Report Prepared by: Connor Stedman, Dyami Soloviev, Erin Kassis 9 Old State Route 213, High Falls, NY 12440 / PO Box 3, High Falls, NY 12440 • [email protected] • 845-377-5444 Table of Contents Master Plan Overview 2 Project Purpose & Contributions 2 Project Phasing & Overall Costing Estimates 4 Fodder Windbreaks 5 Goat Fodder Strips 7 Coppice Hillside Plantings 9 Wet Site Pollinator & Food Plantings 10 Bioswales 13 Mushroom Cultivation 14 Silvopasture Orchard 17 Agroforestry & Land Use on Forested Sites 20 Stands 1 & 2 - Multistrata Forest Gardens 21 Stands 1 & 3 - Woodland Silvopasture 22 Stands 4 & 5 - Maturing, Rocky Hardwoods 32 Stand 6 - Chestnut Orchard & Foraging Trails 33 Stand 7 - Enhancing Structural Complexity 36 Stand 8 - Oak-Blueberry Woodlands 37 Stand 9 - Buffer Slope 38 Pasture Rotations 39 Appendix A: Perennial Establishment Specifications 43 !1 9 Old State Route 213, High Falls, NY 12440 / PO Box 3, High Falls, NY 12440 • [email protected] • 845-377-5444 Master Plan Overview Project Purpose & Contributions Based on conversations with members of the Wright-Locke Farm Conservancy, Farm staff, Conservation Commission members, and community members, and on the April 2017 Community Design Charrette, the following primary goals for an Agroforestry Master Planning process were identified: 1. Increase Community Connections to Wright-Locke Farm a. Educational Opportunities !2 9 Old State Route 213, High Falls, NY 12440 / PO Box 3, High Falls, NY 12440 • [email protected] • 845-377-5444 b.