HIGHLIGHT EVENTS


Grazin' Days workshops set

Producers interested in rotational grazing or those who have received funds through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) are invited to attend any one of a series of Grazin’ Days workshops on pasture management.

Workshops are scheduled August 22 at the Sam Schrock farm in Davis County; August 23 at the Linda Grice farm in Keokuk County; August 24 at the Jim and Loraine Stevens farm in Poweshiek County; and August 31 at the Gene Tinker farm in Clayton County.

Each workshop will begin at 3:30 p.m. and includes a pasture walk and discussions on cover plant identification, manure distribution, decentralized watering systems, weed and brush control, managing forage heights, pasture condition scoring and contingency plans for management during a weather crisis (too wet or dry). A light supper will be served at 6 p.m.

The $20 registration fee includes an updated version of the popular Pasture Management Guide for Livestock Producers three-ring binder. For more information, contact state grassland conservationist Brian Peterson, (515) 323-2216, or ISU Extension animal science specialist Dan Morrical, (515) 294-2904.

The workshops are sponsored by the Iowa Forage and Grassland Council, NRCS, ISU Extension, Iowa Beef Center, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, Leopold Center, Southern Iowa Forage and Livestock Committee and Practical Farmers of Iowa.


Using distiller's grains

Henry Langstraat of Chariton and Ron Dunphy of Creston are sharing their experiences with a supplemental feeding system being tested on their farms that uses ethanol co-products in pellet form.

Both producers are participating in a feeding demonstration funded by a Leopold Center research grant. Iowa State University Extension beef specialists Dan Loy and Joe Sellers are studying low-cost technologies to help smaller producers more effectively use DDGs in their operations.

The field day on the Langstraat farm was August 7. The field day on the Dunphy farm will begin at 10:30 a.m. August 31. For more information, contact Sellers at (641) 774-2016.

Find out about more PFI field days on the PFI web site.


Back to Summer 2006 Leopold Letter


Published by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-3711
URL: www.leopold.iastate.edu