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The nighttime temperatures have been high enough to wake up the cool-season perennials in the pastures. The first question to ask is: do you really need to take on the work of establishing cover crops in pastures? The principal concern with no-tilling cover crops into perennial pasture sod is plant competition.
By Justin Morris Has your pasture been plagued by poor plant growth? Does water pond on the surface of your pasture either during or right after a rain or irrigation event? Or does water run off your pasture to the point that it leaves behind ugly scars of erosion or floods out other areas that are lower in the landscape?
Here is a link to a video that talks about assessing pasture soil health using these tools. First, locate an area of the pasture that seems representative of the whole pasture. An 18-inch-long slice of soil positioned horizontally on a pasture to make it easier to look at soil structure and rooting depth.
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.
If you don’t have perfectly placed trees throughout your paddocks, you can use portable shade structures that you rotate along with your portable mineral feeder and water tanks when you move your livestock to fresh pastures. A relatively new way of providing shade for livestock is grazing around solar panels. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.
Michigan relies on the FDA to provide new information on GRAS products, said a spokesperson for the states Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (MDARD), which issued the designation. Now overrun with acres and acres of pasture and eucalyptus, the land faces threats from pests and wildfires.
Causes of Compaction There are generally two major causes of soil compaction on pastures: hoof impact and overgrazing. Research has shown that the amount of root exudates was lowest when: 1) leaves were removed in the vegetative phase (phase one); and 2) when plants were grazed severely (close to the pasture surface).
Imagine standing in a green pasture with sheep grazing peacefully. Behind every piece of clothing, there’s a story about soil health and sustainable practices that affect how our clothes are made and their impact on the environment. Let’s explore how wool and cotton fibers are produced and why it matters to all of us. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.
Pasture fertility, healthy livestock, reduced nutrient runoff, all thanks to dung beetles. Even if you’re not a romantic, there are still plenty of other reasons to love dung beetles: it’s estimated that they provide millions of dollars’ worth of nutrient retention and pest fly reduction per year. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.
Pasture fences have been destroyed or damaged by so many trees falling across them that repairs will be time-consuming and costly. I live outside of Boone, North Carolina, and have driven past many farms and witnessed firsthand the destruction of farmland and forests. I have never seen so much damage. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.
This waterer provided frost-free water for the cull ewes on pasture this past week with wind chill temperatures in the 30-below-and-worse range. We have a group of doelings in another pasture and we put a heated bucket there. It is easy to judge if you drill some 1-inch holes in the top of the waterer as shown. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.
However, managed pastures with legumes, high-quality hay, and minerals can help keep goats healthy. A Closer Look at Hair Sheep This blog is produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, under a cooperative agreement with USDA RuralDevelopment. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.
Transportation waste can appear in many ways on your farm, such as irrigation, field layouts, or even how your livestock are transported to new pasture. This blog is produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, under a cooperative agreement with USDA RuralDevelopment.
Dr. Lemus has been crucial in assisting the livestock producers across Mississippi understand the needs of each individual pasture toward better soil health. 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.
That course focuses on helping women farmers gain the knowledge and support and confidence to run their own farms, setting goals, managing soils and pastures and livestock, and working with processors and marketing the livestock products. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.
Recent Actions In recent years, and most noticeably during the supply chain disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, several agencies within the USDA – including RuralDevelopment and the Agricultural Marketing Service – have helped direct critical funding specifically to small and very small meat processing plants.
Cotton Fields to Pasture: Soil Health Matters with Bill Robertson Topic Area: Soil This blog is produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, under a cooperative agreement with USDA RuralDevelopment. Related ATTRA Resources: Episode 309. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.
But family farmers are also vulnerable to challenges including the climate crisis, lack of support and financing, and limited access to land resources and market opportunities, says Esther Penunia, the Secretary General of the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable RuralDevelopment.
Last fall, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and more than 150 other organizations, including nutrition, sustainable farming, ruraldevelopment, 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.
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