PRINCETON, Ky. — There are to be two University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture educational programs for 2012, designed to teach ruminant livestock producers up-to-date grazing techniques.

The springtime grazing school was at the UK Research & Education Center in Princeton on April 10-11. For the fall session, the grazing school will be Sept. 11-12 at the Woodford County extension office in Versailles. The agenda for both programs is cost effective feeding of livestock.

For the 2011-12 seasons Master Grazer Program Coordinator Lyndsay Jones has been UK’s do-all organizer for the training schools, which are cosponsored by the UK’s Master Grazer Educational Program, Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund, UK College of Agriculture, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Kentucky Forage and Grassland Council.

Jones, who has a degree in crop science, said she has received positive survey responses from attendees who indicated they would definitely implement strategies they learned at the April program. “The hands-on activities segments were the favorite of most attending producers,” she said.

After the daily lectures, producers broke into teams out in the field where they toured demonstration plots of various forages, practiced designing building paddocks and temporary fences and observed how much forage cattle housed at the site consumed overnight. Their goal was increasing production and profit for their own operations.

The educators were UK agriculture specialists in forages, beef cattle, dairy and veterinary science, who teach a varied of topics such as assessing pasture yields, animal nutrition, designing rotational grazing systems with multiple feeding paddocks, watering systems, nutrition, extending the grazing season and more.

Other speakers included Sid Brantley, a grazing lands specialist for the NRCS, and Jeremy McGill, a manager for Gallagher USA, who taught temporary fencing techniques. Gary Lacefield, an extension forage specialist for UK, lectured on the many benefits of rotational grazing, and later he spoke on native Kentucky forages that work well in effective grazing systems.

Lacefield told attendees rotational grazing can help farmers increase forage productivity and increase the yield of animal products per acre – which, he said, should increase profit margins for forage-based farming. He explained effectively managed rotational grazing has the potential to:

•Reduce cost of machinery, fuel, and facilities

•Reduce supplemental feeding and pasture waste

•Improve monthly pasture distribution and yield

•Improve animal waste distribution and nutrient use

•Improve pastures’ botanical composition

•Minimize daily fluctuations in intake and quality

Donna Amaral-Phillips a dairy cattle specialist for UK, spoke on the animal component of grazing and how to integrate it into forage management. One thing she told producers was they should begin the grazing of cool-season grasses when 8-10 inches tall and graze them down to a limit of 3-4 inches.

“Cattle eat more of the forage at that height and get more energy from their food,” she explained.