West Ohio Grazing School
by Justin Petrosino, ANR Extension Educator
OSU Extension, Darke County
June 13, 2011
As
corn and soybean prices continue to rise, feeding livestock
economically is becoming a challenge. Many farmers in Ohio are gaining
interest in grazing livestock to reduce feed costs and spend less time
making hay. Management intensive grazing is a proven way to improve
feed efficiency and decrease feed costs. Typical open grazing allows
animals to manage the pasture selecting for only a few favorable
species. This inefficient process results in only 30% feeding
efficiency. Management intensive grazing puts the farmer in control and
realizes feeding efficiencies closer to 60%.
The
West Ohio Grazing School is a three day course in management intensive
grazing. Two evening sessions held on July 14 and 21, from 6 to 8pm,
along with the Saturday morning session held on July 23, will be held
indoors in a classroom environment. Saturday after a lunch grilled by
your favorite AgNR Educators, the program will move to a local
intensively managed pasture to discuss fencing, watering systems, and
paddock design.
Participants will receive eight hours of instruction, a Management
Intensive Grazing Guide (worth its weight in gold!) and hands on
learning in the field. They will also have the opportunity to pick the
brain of the amazing Bob Hendershot, USDA-NRCS State Grassland
Conservationist and Grazing Guru, and Jeff McCutcheon, OSU Extension
Morrow County Educator and Grazing Guru. Jeff is also a Certified
Grassland Professional and a Professional Animal Scientist. Also, if
you have crop questions unrelated to grazing there will be a Certified
Professional Agronomist and two Certified Crop Advisors on hand.
The
grazing school will be held at The Ohio State University Extension,
Shelby County Office. The office is located at 810 Fair Road, Sidney,
Ohio 45365. All roads lead to Sidney, including State Routes 29, 706,
and 47. The office is also conveniently located close to Interstate 75,
and accessible via Exit 90 (Fair Road).
For
more information or to register contact The Ohio State University
Extension Office in Darke County, Ohio, at (937) 548-5215 or visit
http://darke.osu.edu. The early registration deadline is July 8th.
After the deadline late registration will run from July 9th to July
12th. Before the 8th the registration fee is $50. After the 8th the
late registration fee will be $60. There will be no registration after
the 12th or at the door.
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