News

Grazing Lands News

Updated 06/26/2008

TN.190.RP.1 : “PROFITABLE GRAZING-BASED DAIRY SYSTEMS”

Well-managed grazing-based dairies help protect soil, water, air, plant, and animal resources by maintaining permanent vegetative cover on the soil, increasing soil organic matter, improving the distribution of nutrients on fields, and reducing the potential for odors, spills, or runoff from concentrated animal housing, feed lots, and waste storage areas. Compared with traditional confinement dairies, grazing-based dairies have more wildlife, more diverse plant communities, and healthier cows with longer productive lives. In addition, grazing-based dairies often boost income by reducing feed, labor, equipment, and fuel costs.

Explanation. This Technical Note provides background and general guidance on the concept of grazing-based dairy systems, defined as land management systems that seek to optimize dairy production through grazing. It focuses on associated economic, environmental, and social benefits. This document is intended to support and encourage the start-up of grazing-based dairy farms across the Nation.

The technical information contained in this document gives NRCS conservation planners and technicians, dairy producers, and others the background information necessary to help producers transition from confinement dairies to grazing-based dairies.

Grazinglands Spatial Analysis Tool (GSAT Basic)

A stand alone decision support tool utilized to inventory grazing resources and animals (domestic and wild). This application is used to assess the relationship between grazing supply and animal demand. It can help determine the best level of stocking to meet the needs of the land and the grazing animals.

Grazing Lands Events & Activities

Updated Grazing Lands Technical Publications

Foraging Behavior: Managing to Survive in a World of Change - Behavioral Principles for Human, Animal, Vegetation, and Ecosystem Management. This booklet and companion DVD was written by Dr. Fred Provenza, a professor at Utah State. It explores the interrelationships between plants and grazing/browsing animals.

Monitoring Manual for Grassland, Shrubland and Savanna Ecosystems ... - developed with the ARS Jornada Experimenal Range. This manual describes how to monitor three rangeland attributes: soil and site stability, watershed function and biotic integrity. Nearly everything we value about rangelands depends on these attributes. Monitoring these three attributes is like monitoring the foundation of our rangeland ecosystems. The measurements used to monitor these attributes also can be used to generate indicators relevant to specific management objectives, such as maintaining wildlife habitat, biodiversity conservation or producing forage.

Meetings:

American Forage and Grassland Council
2007 Joint AFGC & NEBSCA Conference, June 23-26, 2007 in State College, Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Forage and Grassland Council and Penn State University will host the joint 2007 American Forage and Grassland Council and Northeast Branch ASA & SSSA Annual Conference at the Penn State Conference Center and Hotel.