Leopold Center - Grazing intern sees changes coming

The first thing that Amanda Husband wants to do after her summer internship ends is to convince her grandfather that rotational grazing might work on their family farm. Her family raises cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and ponies on 140 acres about three miles from the Missouri state line in Taylor County.

“I’ve gotten passionate about rotational grazing since I started work here in May and I really want to encourage other people to look at it,” said Husband, a senior at Northwest Missouri State University.

As a grazing intern, Husband worked with herdsman Mike Olive to manage four cattle herds on the Adams County CRP farm. That means she’s learned how to mend fences, cut thistles, check water supplies and move cattle (a daily occurrence on a rotational grazing system).

She’s also worked directly with research teams from Iowa State University in their work on grazing management and wildlife utilization. And she’s done a lot of education: developing and staffing displays for five area county fairs, speaking at field days, and leading tours, including groups of visiting high school agriculture students.

“I’ve always been a farm girl and have been around livestock,” she said. “I love dealing with the public, hearing people’s concerns and trying to help them solve their problems.”

She said she’s talked to numerous farmers during her internship and learned that they have “lots of different views” on rotational grazing. “I think the increase in production of your pasture is the best argument to use with farmers,” she concluded. “If we can prove to them that they will see an increase in pasture growth, they may consider these systems.”

She said she most enjoyed visiting with the high school students, who were willing to discuss what they had learned with their parents. “I think people are becoming more serious now about what they want to do with their CRP land, and we need to provide them with information about their options.”

Husband has an associate degree in veterinary technician science from Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture. She anticipates a Spring 2007 graduation from NWMSU with a bachelor’s degree in animal science and a minor in business. Her future plans are undecided, but she said she might enjoy working for the NRCS or USDA.