ATTRA

APRIL 2, 2024

Our pastures are devastated by livestock feeding areas, hooves, gate ruts, excessive rain, snow melt, and lack of vegetative cover during the non-growing season. We are too aware of the cost of pasture forage restoration, truck fenders, and loss of man hours, but there is also a cost to the health and welfare of our livestock.

Soil Compaction 98

Soil Compaction Pasture Forage Livestock 98

ATTRA

NOVEMBER 21, 2023

By Justin Morris In an earlier blog , we discussed what compaction is and how it negatively affects plants, soils, livestock, and even economics. Hoof impact can also cause compaction very quickly when livestock walk on wet soil either during or immediately following a rain or irrigation event. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

Soil Compaction 103

Soil Compaction Livestock Forage Pasture 103

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

JULY 8, 2024

Cover crop experiment at Rogers Farm Forage and Crop Research Facility in Orono, Maine. On June 11, 2024, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee advanced the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2025 on a party-line vote. Photo credit: Reana Kovalcik.

Agriculture 110

Agriculture Agriculture Ruralism Food 110

Civil Eats

OCTOBER 2, 2024

The goats are part of a growing trend of using livestock to mitigate wildfire risks across the West. Beyond general grazing permits, which the Forest Service has issued since its inception, Thibideau says that last year his region used livestock to graze 4,544 acres specifically to mitigate wildfire.

Acre 145

Acre Farming Farming Compost 145

ATTRA

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

Another project, being carried out in collaboration with Dr. Rocky Lemus and Dr. Leyla Rios, both of MSU Extension, strives to better understand forage present and soil health results from the implementation of conservation practices through an HMI framework. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

Livestock 40

Livestock Rural Development Agriculture Agriculture 40

ATTRA

APRIL 23, 2024

You look out over the field and imagine the herd pushing into a paddock, into a knee-high sward, and they immediately lower their heads, bite, and jerk their necks, ripping mouthfuls of nutritious forage from the ground. Swallows dive overhead feasting on the flies hovering over the backs of the cattle. There’s peace here. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

Pasture 52

Pasture Crop Seeding Crop Rotation 52

The Equation

AUGUST 10, 2023

Last fall, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and more than 150 other organizations, including nutrition, sustainable farming, rural development, racial equity, labor, and environmental groups, sent a joint letter to President Biden, urging him to prod Congress to pass a new farm bill this year that transforms the US food system.

Food 98

Food Farming Farming Agriculture 98