Opportunity for Graziers to Fine Tune their Grazing Skills
Amy Barkley, Livestock Specialist
Southwest New York Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Program
Project Objective: Graziers who participate will fine tune their grazing skills to help improve pasture output by learning how weather conditions (rainfall, temperature) interact with management decisions (residue height, rest) to affect regrowth in their pastures
Target Audience: graziers throughout NY state utilizing rotational grazing strategies
Program Plan:
Participants will identify 1-2 pastures to record weekly measurements of grass height, as well as rainfall amounts for their location.
- To enroll, farms should send Betsy Hicks (bjh246@cornell.edu) or Troy Bishopp (troy-bishopp@verizon.net) :
- Name, email, phone number
- Location of pasture (GPS coordinates)
- Elevation of pasture
- Nearest town
- What you're grazing (beef steers, beef cow/calf, dairy heifers, dairy cows, etc)
- Starting height of pasture for that week
- Weekly, farms should report:
- Rainfall for the week (inches)
- Height of pasture (inches)
- Date pasture was grazed or clipped
- If pasture was grazed or clipped, height of residual (inches)
- From these enrollment & weekly measurements, Betsy & Troy will calculate:
- Regrowth rate
- Cumulative GDD using Cornell Climate Smart Farming's GDD calculator (http://climatesmartfarming.org/tools/csf-growing-degree-day-calculator/)
- Graziers should do their measurements on the same day every week, but they can choose to do measurements on any day from Monday to Thursday.
- Measurements can be sent to Betsy/Troy via email, text or phone call by Thursday at NOON each week.
- Betsy & Troy will compile the weekly grazing report, to be sent out on Friday morning each week. Once a month during the grazing season, Betsy & Troy will hold an open grazing call for participants to compare notes.
- Participants can join the project and calls at any time during the grazing season. The more the merrier!
If you'd like to receive the results only, email Betsy Hicks at bjh246@cornell.edu to be added to the list of people who receive the weekly reports.
Upcoming Events
WEBINAR - Automated Milking Systems Efficiency: Balancing Focus on Individual Cows and System Optimization
May 8, 2024
Please join Cornell the SWNY team and MSU Extension for our talk with Dr. Pablo Silva BoloƱa on improving efficiency of Automated milking systems by focusing on milking settings for individual and group success.
Broiler Field Day at Sunny Cove Farm
June 6, 2024
Alfred Station, NY
Join us for a field day to explore broiler production, processing, and finances. Meghan Snyder of Sunny Cove Farm will be our host. She raises small batches of organic broilers, processing them on-farm under the 1,000 bird exemption.
Stockmanship and Stewardship 2024
October 25, 2024
Hamburg, NY
Save the date!! The event is one of 4 across the US and is a two-day educational experience featuring low-stress cattle handling demonstrations, Beef Quality Assurance educational sessions, facility design sessions, and industry updates.
Announcements
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