Want to improve your grazing management decision-making? Are you ready to take a step towards improving your bottom line? Do you need to work on planning, monitoring and verifying your actions?
If you said yes to any of these questions, The Madison County Cornell Cooperative Extension will be hosting a grazing planning get-together Thursday, April 7, from 7 to 9 p.m. at their newly renovated event center on 100 Eaton St.,Morrisville.
Putting some pre-planning time into creating what you want to happen for your farm by using a daily grazing chart tool is an approach that is gaining in popularity among serious grazing managers to keep track of where you were, where you are and where you are going throughout the grazing season.
Highly recognized grazing practitioners such as Joel Salatin, Jim Gerrish, Allan Savory and Greg Judy all use grazing system monitoring tools to create the land they want and improve profit.
“It has been said the initial grazing plan itself is of little value as it will change considerably from the first draft, but it is the thought process of creating a strategic grazing plan that is important,” said Hugh Aljoe, Noble Foundation Producer Relations Manager. “Having experienced the process of developing a strategic grazing plan, a grazier is better prepared to make adjustments which allows the grazier to make timely, more informed, strategic grazing management decisions.”
Those using the chart report that planning with the chart gives a picture of the grazing season to come, serves as a tool to assess success and failures of the past grazing season, emphasizes contingency forecasting, takes into account vital planning around those things that are important to a family and is a must-have tool for anyone grazing livestock.
The team of Troy Bishopp, grazing specialist from your local Madison County SWCD and Upper Susquehanna Coalition and Madison County beef farmer Jubel Caudill from The Late Friday Farm in Lebanon will lead conversation and demonstration in teaching the forward-planning decisions of using the grazing chart that will be put into practice this season.
If you want to get a jump on your grass production, reduce stress and enjoy some ice cream, consider participating in this hands-on, reality-based meeting. Paper grazing charts will be available for a nominal fee.
To register for this meeting, contact Katherine Brosnan of Madison County CCE @ (315)-684-3001 ext.100 and kmb279@cornell.edu or Troy Bishopp at Madison Co. SWCD at (315) 824-9849 Ext. 110.
This planning workshop is sponsored by The Natural Resources Conservation Service, Madison County Cornell Cooperative Extension, Morrisville State College’s School of Agriculture, Sustainability, Business and Entrepreneurship, Madison County SWCD and the Upper Susquehanna Coalition.