Events 2008
** SAVE THIS IMPORTANT DATE **
NORTHEAST GRASSTRAVAGANZA 2008: March 28th 29th, 2008 at the Holiday Inn, Binghamton, N.Y. Hosted by the Central New York RC&D Project Inc. For more information SavethisImportantDateMar312008.
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Events 2007
The Oneida County Soil and Water Conservation District and The New York State Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative Pasture Walk
Grass Farmer, Grass Whisperer, Grass-Finished Beef
What do these things have in common? Come meet Troy, "The Grass Whisperer," Bishopp at the family's 5th generation farm as he shares his passion for pasture, on Saturday, September 29th, 2007 from 9:00am-12:00pm at 2809 State Rte. 12-B, Deansboro, N.Y. Anyone interested in learning more about practical rotational grazing strategies, grass-based cattle genetics and what it takes to finish beef on grass should join us for a closer look at this emerging trend in livestock production. Troy will also address using native plants, farming without outside fertilizers, the soil seedbank, custom grazing, simple watering to paddocks, developing bird habitat, low stress handling, stockpiling forage and grazing layer chickens and goats. With Mr. Bishopp's 20 years of real time grazing experience, both good and bad, this hands-on event will prove to be educational, practical and insightful for the future of a grass-based farming system.
To register or get more information, please call Bill Paddock, Oneida County
SWCD-grazing specialist at (315) 736-3334.
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Madison County SWCD and Oneida Lake Watershed Ag Program Twilight Pasture Walk: Sept 6, Steven Weaver Family Farm, 4933 Peterboro Road, Peterboro, NY. For more information click on MadisonSWCDTwighlightPastureWalk.doc.
ULF Kintzel Sheep Pasture Walk: Sept 6, White Clover Sheep Farm, 683 Bagley Road, Rushville. For more information click on Ulf Kintzel Sheep Pasture Walk1.doc.
Finger Lakes Graziers August Pasture Walk: Aug 28, The Marlin Marting Farm, 4076 Taylor Road, Penn Yan. For more information click on Marlin Martin PW1.doc.
Alpaca Twilight Pasture Walk: Aug 2, Marathon Alpacas, 4000 McMahon Road, Marathon NY. For more information click on AlpacaAug2.
Crop Walk: July 31, 2007 at Ed & Eileen Scheffler's Farm in Groton. For more information click on Ed Scheffler 7.31.07.
Pasture Walks: July 28, 2007 at 10:30 am to
1:00 pm
Tradewinds Farm
Rodney & Janet Aldrich, Oxford
3:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Quarry Brook Farms
Adam & Steve Perrin, Sherburne
For more information go to: WholeFarmHealthPastureWalk.28July2007
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Cortland County
Pasture Walk:
Pasture Management for Milk Production
As part of Cortland County’s Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM)
education and outreach
activities, the Soil and Water Conservation District will be sponsoring a Summer
Pasture Walk at Dove
Tales Farm in Truxton, New York. The walk will be held on July
11, 2007 from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m.
Karen and Dan Dove will host the walk on their 150 cow grazing
dairy farm which maintains a herd
average of over 21,000 lbs. The Dove’s will talk about their experiences
installing and using their grazing
system and also their experiences developing a herd nutrition program that allows
them to maximize
pasture without losing milk production. They converted from to rotational grazing
in 1998, with assistance
from Graze NY, and have learned a lot about successful grazing over the years.
A heifer grazing system
was just installed this spring as part of the farm’s AEM Tier 3A plan.
Participants will be able view the
farm’s grazing system including: fencing, water system, stream crossing
and laneways.
Guest speakers will talk about various topics on the management
of the grazing dairy herd. Darrell
Emmick, USDA-NRCS NYS Grazing Specialist, will share his research on the behavior
of cattle on
pasture and how to work with the natural behavior of cattle to maximize milk
production from pasture.
Karen Sullivan, USDA-NRCS Animal Nutritionist, will talk about general grass-based
nutrition principles
for the grazing dairy herd.
Ample time will be allotted for participants to ask grazing management
questions to help improve grazing
on their own farms.
This pasture walk is FREE, but please call 607-753-0851, x3 to
register by July 9.
Sponsored by Cortland County SWCD, a GRAZE NY county, with support from NYS
Grazing Land
Conservation Initiative and the NYS Agricultural Environmental Management (NYS
AEM) Program.
Directions:
From Truxton: take Cheningo Rd. south for 1 ¾ miles. Farm is on the right.
From Cortland: take Rte. 13 north, turn right on Youngs Crossing, left on East
River Rd. bear left at each
intersection to stay on East River Rd., then turn left on Cheningo Rd. Farm
is 1/3 mile on the left.
FROM: Jean Foley, Cortland County Soil and Water Conservation District - 607-753-0851
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Pasture Walk:
Blank slate: Where/How do I start grazing? Wednesday, June 20 th , 2007
7:00 pm-? @ Nedsmar Farm
In Onondaga County
2878 Schuyler Rd, Marietta, NY
Come out on a summer’s evening to see cropland that will be a grazing system.
Keith Ramsden has decided he WILL graze the cows. The question is how to best
lay out paddocks and laneways. When you don’t have any system, where do
you start? We need input: how would other graziers set this grazing system up?
Keith Ramsden has been working with the District in the AEM program.
One of his goals is to become a grazier and utilize a grazing system rather
than simply letting the cows out on a sacrifice pasture. He milks 65 cows and
has a majority of his acres within site of the dairy barn. This dairy is situated
to easily graze and get the most out of the paddocks.
Questions we would like to answer:
?? Where should the laneway(s) be?
?? How should the pasture be sectioned?
?? How big should paddocks be?
?? Should he utilize a break wire?
?? What kind of rotation will be most efficient?
?? What are the advantages and disadvantages of grazing alfalfa?
?? What about grazing last year’s new seeding?
This is an opportunity to see a blank slate; a grazing system before it is in use. We need your input to effectively design an efficient and easily used grazing system. Contact Jean Burr (677-3851) for more information.
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June 2 Value-Added
Sheep Farm Tour at Northland Sheep Farm
10 am Northland Sheep Farm, Marathon,
NY
Northland Sheep Farm has been very successful in creating value-added products
with their sheep for nearly twenty years. Specializing in making their own cheese
from their flock of dairy sheep, they recently expanded in to making their own
yarn and hides. As a small business they emphasize producing with what you have
or can obtain inexpensively. The North's will discuss were the history of Northland
Sheep Far, including how they started and how they plan for the future of the
operation.
Northland Sheep farm is grass fed flock of sheep that have not been fed grain.
They start lambing in April and start milking the sheep in June and dry off
in October. During the tour, participants will be able to see the housing facility,
cheese making and aging facility, and how they pasture their flock of sheep.
To register or ask questions, please contact Susan at 607 584-9966 by May 30th.
Space is limited!
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Archive of the Year's Events
January 27 IN-SOURCING OUR
FOOD: SCALING PRODUCTION
AND DISTRIBUTION FOR LOCAL VIABILITY
with JOEL SALATAN
4 pm Room 233, Plant Science Building, Cornell University
This event is free and open to the public.
Sponsored by: The New World Agriculture and Ecology Group (NWAEG) at Cornell
Presents:
See Parking Information Below.
"From backyard to beyond and from farm gate to foodshed, today's
alternative food movement offers a fundamentally different and innovative approach.
Marrying techno-glitzy to heritage wisdom, local food entrepreneurs bring marvelous
answers to modern problems. Solving problems from bioterrorism to food pathogens,
e-dominated transparent farms connected to their foodsheds use less energy and
give more satisfaction emotionally, economically, and environmentally. As an
equal but opposite reaction to the industrial global out-sourced food action,
the local food movement is viable, vital, and viral. We can make it happen today."
Background on Mr. Salatin: Joel Salatin is one of America's premier grass farmers. His family bought Polyface farm in Swoope, VA, in 1961 when he was a young boy. Beginning with just pastured poultry, Joel has developed models for cattle, pork, and rabbits. Today, the farm provides products to over 400 customers, farmers’ markets, buying clubs, and restaurants. Joel's ability to communicate complements his creativity and business sense, enabling him to write about the models he has developed and made profitable. He speaks all over the United States each winter, and is author of several books, including You Can Farm and Salad Bar Beef. His farm is featured in Michael Pollan’s most recent book, The Omnivore's Dilemma.
Metered parking is available in the Peterson Lot at the corner of Tower and
Judd Falls Roads.
Sponsored by the New World Agriculture and Ecology Group (NWAEG), the Department
of Crop and Soil Sciences, Cornell Dining, the Small Farms Program, and funded
in part by the GPSAFC.
For more information contact: jmb326@cornell.edu, or visit our website:www.rso.cornell.edu/nwaeg/.
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Selecting the Right Forage for Your Pasture
and Managing Your Pasture for High Quality Forage
February 6, 2007; 7pm - 9pm
NYS Grange Building Auditorium
100 Grange Place (just off of Clinton Avenue)
Cortland, NY 13045
FREE - just call by Feb. 2 to register. (607) 753-0851 x3
Cortland County Soil and Water Conservation District is hosting an evening grazing workshop for both experienced and beginning graziers. Two topics and speakers will be featured.
Selecting the Right Forage for the Job
Tom Adams is both the owner of MaraSeed, and a sales and support representative for King's AgriSeeds.
Tom will cover important information on developing a good pasture by selecting the proper forage species that fit the farm needs and goals. We will look at forages for: wet soils, dry soils, early season grazing, getting through the "summer slump", annual grazing forages, Brassicas and more. Learn how to select forage species based on the individual characteristics of each species and how it might or might not be suited to your farm situation.
Now that you have the right plant species, learn how to manage your grazing system to make the most efficient use of the forages.
Managing Your Pasture for High Quality Forage
Darrell Emmick is well-known in the grazing community. He is the NRCS NYS Grazing Land Management Specialist and author of several important grazing publications. Darrell is a popular speaker at grazing events.
Darrell will share with us his wisdom, gained through years of grazing experience, about managing grazing systems for successful livestock production. Management is the key to utilizing the potential nutrients available from a good pasture and for maintaining the pasture in top shape. Developing and maintaining pasture quality and quantity and how to measure these attributes will be covered in this presentation.
Question and Answer Period - Bring your questions to ask Darrell and Tom about
grazing and your own farm.
Refreshments will be served.
Call for registration by Feb. 2, 2007. 607-753-0851, x3.
February 17 Got Horses??
One Day Horse Grazing Conference: Yes, You Can Graze Horses & Have Healthy
Pastures
9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Auditorium, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Upper Front Street
Cost: $10 ($15/couple) includes lunch
Pre-registration requested. . Contact Dan Vredenburgh at the Broome County Soil
& Water Conservation District office for more information and/or to register
for the event.
(607-724-9268 or broomesoil@juno.com)
The day will focus primarily on pasture management for horse operations.
Topics to be discussed include: setting realistic pasture goals, forage species
selection & forage growth, the importance of rest and rotation for pastures,
toxic plants, weed control, and fencing options. Additionally, there will be
a presentation by a horse owner who successfully pastures their horses and a
discussion on Agricultural Value Assessments and how they can reduce taxes for
some horse operations. Whether you have 1 or 100 horses, there should be something
for you.
To see the promotional flyer with meeting
agenda
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March 6 Behavior-based Grazing Management: More than
the Luck of the Bite
7 pm - 9 pm NYS Grange, Grange Auditorium, Clinton Ave.
Cortland, NY
Pre-registration requested by March. 2, 2007. 607-753-0851, x3.
Refreshments will be served.
In this presentation by Darrell Emmick, State Grazing Land Management Specialist
with the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Darrell will share
information and data on what is known about some of the adaptations, foraging
strategies, and mechanisms used by grazing animals to make foraging decisions,
and illustrate how you can use this knowledge to improve the efficiency and
profitability of pasture-based production systems.
More than the Luck of the Bite
To the casual observer, the foraging behavior of livestock often appears as
a process of random selection, whereby they simply eat what they encounter.
However, in taking a closer look, one would see this is hardly the truth. Plants
and animals have coexisted on planet Earth for nearly 400-million years, and
the interactions between the two are very complex. Plants influence animals
through provision of nutrients, toxins, and patterns of growth and production
over time and in space. Animals influence plants primarily through defoliation,
trampling and altering nutrient dynamics. Unlike livestock kept in confinement,
and fed prepared rations with little choice but to eat what is put in front
of them or go hungry, grazing animals face many challenges in what to eat, when
to eat, and where. Thus, diet selection is far more than simply the luck of
the bite, and has major implications for anyone wanting to optimize the performance
of their pasture-based livestock operation.
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March 31 Graze-A-Palooza - A Celebration of Healthy, Grass-based Farming, Food, & Families********************************************************************