tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65613736873256991162024-02-07T00:37:49.434-08:00VT Pasture NetworkNews, events and observations about grass-based farming in Vermont and the northeast.VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-23519964304435318162012-08-01T17:32:00.000-07:002012-08-08T09:04:52.345-07:00Dairy Heifers Eat Weeds, too!<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Our work with Kathy Voth and learning to view weeds as alternative forages has taught us many things, and one is that animals can eat more things than we think they can.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kathy and Julie talking weeds and heifers.</td></tr>
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It's just a great example of how the brain-stomach feedback loop is working to help animals evaluate the nutrients and toxins in foods to determine whether they are good to eat, or not. </div>
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Here are some videos from project participant Julie Wolcott's farm in Fairfield:</div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBVire4dkZ4&feature=player_detailpage" target="_blank">Dairy heifers trying thistle</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOrmCDghJWA&feature=plcp" target="_blank">Dairy heifers trying milk weed</a></div>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdTFRJHpLVs&feature=plcp" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dairy heifers eating a variety of foods</span></a>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-16151086346301865182012-07-25T17:22:00.002-07:002012-07-30T11:12:38.291-07:00Why would we want to teach our animals to eat weeds? A Top Ten List<br />
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Last week we spent a few days with beef, sheep and dairy farmers
interested in learning more about how animals can be taught to expand their
nutritional palates. The farmers who
came to the events were excited and engaged, and at all three farms we found
animals eating some of the target weeds.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picking goldenrod for a live weed-eating demo.</td></tr>
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As weed-eating trainer Kathy Voth says this process, "<i>helps
you feel comfortable with your animals' ability to make good choices</i>."</div>
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As Bruce Hennessey of Maple Wind Farm in Huntington said,
"<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I look at my pastures in a totally
different way now</i>". Bruce and
his interns Eleanor, Eli and Diane have been teaching their beef cattle to eat
golden rod at a leased farm and plan to tackle Canada thistle at the home farm
next.</div>
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Julie Wolcott of Green Wind Farm in Fairfield worked with
her dairy heifers to each a variety of weeds they will find in the pasture,
once they are turned out to begin grazing.
The weed-eating program has not only introduced them to a range of weeds
from thistle to plaintain, but has also been an easy way to teach the heifers
that grass and legumes are tasty and nutritious. Typically, Julie observes that the cows lose
weight when they first go out to pasture, as they adjust to the new food
choices. She is hoping they eat all of
the plants more evenly and that the heifers' weight gain continues
smoothly. As Julie says, "<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This is easy! Easier than I ever expected.</i>"</div>
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Jenn Colby of Howling Wolf Farm in East Randolph has been
teaching her sheep to eat Canada thistle, but her flock has already enjoyed a
varied diet. Tops on the menu: wild
chervil, wild parsnip, burdock and giant ragweed. As Jenn says, "<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I haven't experienced the drought challenges that the farms around me
have this year. The sheep love the
burdock and milkweed, which are growing back very quickly after grazing....much
faster than the grass. I don't think of
weeds as weeds...I think of weeds as alternative forage!</i>"</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">So...why should you
consider teaching your animals to become weed managers? </b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5u3q7HLx1INOkaj2YyYMHHRjO1didCODORAXDhMI9Z6yToZ8F_kFW_NjEp-LmHoO24d4RT1C1v61V-l1K_g7rLDqTRFejMPDcRpK7WOcw8w5WHXNFIJL21EcgUJ7ftdr8-tI0IhcjhI/s1600/DSC00981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5u3q7HLx1INOkaj2YyYMHHRjO1didCODORAXDhMI9Z6yToZ8F_kFW_NjEp-LmHoO24d4RT1C1v61V-l1K_g7rLDqTRFejMPDcRpK7WOcw8w5WHXNFIJL21EcgUJ7ftdr8-tI0IhcjhI/s320/DSC00981.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proof!</td></tr>
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<ol>
<li><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Weeds are nutritious and highly digestible</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Weeds are resilient in a changing environment</li>
<li style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Weeds maintain their quality longer than other
forages</li>
<li style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Weeds take NO work to plant, fertilize or
maintain</li>
<li style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Weeds have always been here...and likely always
will be </li>
<li style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Controlling weeds mechanically or with chemical
sprays is expensive, costly, and takes time</li>
<li style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's quick and easy, and teaching animals once means they will
teach their herdmates for years</li>
<li style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Animals who eat weeds are healthy and grow well</li>
<li style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Farmers have better things to do than stress
about old weeds (or new ones!)</li>
<li style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It's fun (we're not kidding)</i></li>
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To learn
more about teaching livestock to eat alternative forages, visit
<a href="http://www.livestockforlandscapes.com/">www.livestockforlandscapes.com</a> or contact the UVM Center for Sustainable
Agriculture's Pasture Program at <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/pasture">www.uvm.edu/pasture</a></div>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-67392854707742666762012-05-18T12:16:00.000-07:002012-05-18T12:16:00.280-07:00Grazing Experiments on a Central VT Farm<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXs-AhNKEY2s2EEv2vD9MFsJ1yi8eYd3Nlx6mnjt6vexJMp02NqbPIKR31MqGGYumh5v2GcnZgzRJNzHEfGu0XbKL5qaVnEhB2cwiqZDxxPFlfptMrquBv8PsTd0-GDAbmCU46_WCg_Ss/s1600/chervil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXs-AhNKEY2s2EEv2vD9MFsJ1yi8eYd3Nlx6mnjt6vexJMp02NqbPIKR31MqGGYumh5v2GcnZgzRJNzHEfGu0XbKL5qaVnEhB2cwiqZDxxPFlfptMrquBv8PsTd0-GDAbmCU46_WCg_Ss/s320/chervil.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">618 loves her chervil!</span></td></tr>
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As a person working in the Pasture Program for over seven years, I expect that readers might wonder what happens on my own farm. Yes, I graze animals too! For the last several years, I've been focused on sheep and feeder pigs, with occasional poultry. I'll be back on poultry again now that I finished grad school. </div>
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I just posted a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101320609554730.2320596.6914741&type=1&l=48ccd08d4d" target="_blank">photo album on Facebook </a>which should be publicly accessible by others. If you are on Facebook, please feel free to comment. As with every other farm(er) I know...our farm is a work in progress. It's not large; we currently have 11 ewes...but we are growing and learning. One thing I've learned is that regardless of one's size or experience, there's always more to learn!</div>
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I am testing a number of approaches which I've observed on others' farms including taller grazing, planned grazing, silvopasture/fallow land reclamation, and eating weeds. I'll keep posting...hopefully you'll keep checking back.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jenn</span>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-31075009033897454772012-05-14T13:14:00.001-07:002012-05-14T13:14:42.110-07:00Healthy Animals Means Healthy Food...and Healthy Discussion<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
I was recently passed a commentary piece produced by <a href="http://www.cast-science.org/" target="_blank">CAST,</a> the Center for Agricultural Science and Technology. In it, the organization discusses the "<a href="http://www.cast-science.org/publications/?the_direct_relationship_between_animal_health_and_food_safety_outcomes&show=product&productID=155971" target="_blank">direct relationship between animal health and safety outcomes</a>". It spends a significant section talking about how diseased animals can pass on pathogens to consumers through the slaughter process, and how animals which appear healthy on the outside can actually be full of disease vectors. The upshot of the article is that animals raised outside, without antibiotics and in less "controlled" circumstances will be less safe and more dangerous to the consumer.</div>
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I was asked to weigh in on this organization, and this commentary for an <a href="http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/05/09/big-ag-it%E2%80%99s-really-small-sustainable-farms-making-you-sick" target="_blank">online magazine article</a>. Frankly, it was an awkward request. I work with farmers on a daily basis who believe that they are doing their best to raise the healthiest and the highest quality animals for their consumers, consumers whom they often know personally. That said, not every day is sunny and picturesque on a grass-based farm. At the same time, I have personally visited confinement farms considered within the industry to be very well run. The point is, despite everyone's best efforts, no system is perfect. Without much exception, all sides of this issue would agree that healthy animals mean healthy food. In the bigger picture, we need healthy soils which lead to healthy animals which lead to healthy people and a healthy planet.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Deep issues require discussion and reflection.</span></td></tr>
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The thing made me feel awkward about commenting on the CAST publication was that I don't like to play small local ag and big ag against one another. While I most often find myself on the side of the small agricultural operations both because they tend to be the farms that I best understand and the farms one is most likely to find in Vermont, I also need to acknowledge that there's a lot to learn from big farms. "Big Ag" has spent a lot of time and money on the issues of food safety, animal housing, disease and transportation. They are incredibly well organized. Can we not learn from them? Must we reject everything about them because we disagree with their perspective? Must they do the same with us, when we have learned so much about animal behavior, consumer relationships and beneficial management of the environment?</div>
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At the same time, I question the logic from CAST that small organic or grass-based farms are unsafe. I was serious when I noted in the article that their view is "reductionist", because that's actually the nature of hard, laboratory science. It must be reductionist in order to tease out small differences that approach the ability to reject a null hypothesis (in the world of double negatives, this is <b>almost</b> like saying you accept your actual hypothesis). That sort of focus on individual parts reduced down to comparable attributes is incredibly difficult in the real world. In applied science, whether performed by a University Extension researcher or a farmer with test plots, there are many, many variables. </div>
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On the farm and in the field, we must think holistically. Everything on a farm is some variation of managed risk, whether that means we use two strands of fence or four; invest in a tractor or an ATV; plant ryegrass or corn. We must balance whether a new farm enterprise is worth taking extra time away from the kids' Little League games. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This blog post may seem to ramble a bit, but I think that's my ultimate point. It's not fair to ask for a two-second sound bite on deep issues like animal health or food safety. These are much larger conversations. And I do mean conversations or discussions. I don't mean ignorance or dismissal. We all must learn from one another. We all have something to teach. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jenn</span><br />
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<br />VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-2216394429045872512012-05-10T10:26:00.004-07:002012-05-10T10:26:24.232-07:00Brown Bag Weeds Webinar with Kathy Voth<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Our terrific partner Kathy Voth did her first official public webinar today! She shared her knowledge and experience in a one-hour overview at lunch. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZLv4fcWTIeMEs8ApIXuxwmSB9LmrV8uC40BZr4VzVpnK7uWDzlaS4Y3cIdE2yW0TQhEQJ0rP53IkuEZXPYsJee-iG-rDkk42aVwIwlsTcgMMaBNJGtEMHAU94ppeCPVo808u1VFwLDk/s1600/Kathycow2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZLv4fcWTIeMEs8ApIXuxwmSB9LmrV8uC40BZr4VzVpnK7uWDzlaS4Y3cIdE2yW0TQhEQJ0rP53IkuEZXPYsJee-iG-rDkk42aVwIwlsTcgMMaBNJGtEMHAU94ppeCPVo808u1VFwLDk/s320/Kathycow2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Kathy and a VT Devon steer making friends.</span></td></tr>
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If you'd like to catch the webinar, we recorded it! <a href="https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-05-10.0921.M.C40049926B7412EB2CC9AA8D181384.vcr&sid=2009421" target="_blank">Click here</a> to watch.</div>
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As Kathy encouraged in the webinar, she is available to help you teach your own animals to eat weeds! And if you are in Vermont or the Northeast, we'd like to hear about your successes and challenges in trying it on your own farms.</div>
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Contact her at <a href="mailto:kvoth@livestockforlandscapes.com">kvoth@livestockforlandscapes.com</a></div>
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or the Pasture Program at <a href="mailto:pasture@uvm.edu">pasture@uvm.edu</a> </div>
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<br />VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-9124911143678507852012-02-24T12:57:00.000-08:002012-02-24T12:57:00.094-08:00Teaching VT Sheep to Eat Bedstraw<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrAmziq1SUtPvvAlLjG62CBuKnivxPRnhvBiYxfB9IktELR9Yd5A_fFyeZzOpGUhDKtyaYj95OFmFJ2JipLglP7LfYU4tEluTCW1uakpeKwMGT_PCi4f62t5NL7e6Y1aAm9NmCskpjnqY/s1600/KathyKimberlyfeeding3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrAmziq1SUtPvvAlLjG62CBuKnivxPRnhvBiYxfB9IktELR9Yd5A_fFyeZzOpGUhDKtyaYj95OFmFJ2JipLglP7LfYU4tEluTCW1uakpeKwMGT_PCi4f62t5NL7e6Y1aAm9NmCskpjnqY/s200/KathyKimberlyfeeding3.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kathy Voth and Kimberly Hagen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>News from the field!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here's farmer and grant participant Kimberly Hagen teaching her sheep to eat smooth bedstraw, a notorious plant in Vermont. Think your animals won't eat it? This technique has worked on all different types of ruminant animals, with differently sized herds and with different weeds. It can work for you.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Call us if you'd like to learn more...we have a project underway right now and are happy to help!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2AvlsNWzYc&list=UUTLRnl4QeHrvHMrHLTsVAeg&index=1&feature=plcp" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" target="_blank">Teaching Sheep to Eat Bedstraw on Osprey Hill Farm</a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> (YouTube streaming video).</span>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-48192648559589985702012-02-15T12:56:00.000-08:002012-02-15T12:56:57.252-08:00Temple Grandin and the VT Grazing & Livestock Conference<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wow, what a ride the last month has been!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">First, we'll start by detailing some of the press around the conference. We've been quite lucky to have printed articles by the <a href="http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20120129/GREEN01/120128019?fb_ref=artrectop&fb_source=timeline" target="_blank">Burlington Free Press</a>, the Bradford Journal Opinion, the Valley News, and even the <a href="http://www.lancasterfarming.com/news/northeedition/Graziers-and-Grandin-" target="_blank">Lancaster (PA) Farming</a> magazine. Yow!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Upon further investigation, I also found a blog posting about the event from <a href="http://www.walpolevalleyfarms.com/2012/01/30/temple-grandin-takes-vermont/" target="_blank">Walpole Valley Farms</a>. Thanks Chris and Caitlin!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Overall as the coordinator of the whole show, I can say that this was an amazing, humbling experience. Dr. Grandin directly touched the lives of over 800 people in less than 12 hours. She was incredibly patient and kind. She signed hundreds of books and appeared in at least 50 pictures. She took the time to answer individual questions when people came up to her with concerns about their animals OR their family members. She spent TIME to make sure they had answers. Dr. Grandin was giving, to a fault.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At the end of the evening, we settled up her traveling expenses. We chatted for a few minutes and then she was done, time to sleep...and she walked off to her room without a backward glance. I had this odd flash of the movie Shane or some other classic film where the kid watches in awe as their hero rides into the sunset. Instantly, I was eight years old.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Safe travels, Temple. Thank you for pausing one day with us...</span><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jenn</div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK53mIZP_NScaLzVCHqQ0qHA9sF8ZleN5tBC0rahiqy8pQzADyoiPXRb6jnI0I23aT0eJfzxmxlCSBjSuSbjdS4y8BozsFTC4gboNTatQrboFhdRnIrLIUqWFV4fdFaeLpDmX_F37Hebg/s1600/JennTempleweb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK53mIZP_NScaLzVCHqQ0qHA9sF8ZleN5tBC0rahiqy8pQzADyoiPXRb6jnI0I23aT0eJfzxmxlCSBjSuSbjdS4y8BozsFTC4gboNTatQrboFhdRnIrLIUqWFV4fdFaeLpDmX_F37Hebg/s320/JennTempleweb.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Temple Grandin and Jenn Colby of the UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the 16th Annual VT Grazing & Livestock Conference.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-50445305839704569152012-01-11T07:53:00.000-08:002012-01-11T07:53:19.586-08:00Temple Grandin Autism Presentation Saturday January 21 at 7 pm<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwb_wVpEctpouiFeYIvIw1RXy9WvpiZrfXoUpJiLyQALnUWCXYkpAMz4rRFpqKHIuVCGbjJ41CSXFoFyRr0VtXl5qaKa2TWXCdfAzYo8vTDoLWhJYqnNIx3k67a_dAP4L-YpFSPaMJiyg/s1600/temple.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwb_wVpEctpouiFeYIvIw1RXy9WvpiZrfXoUpJiLyQALnUWCXYkpAMz4rRFpqKHIuVCGbjJ41CSXFoFyRr0VtXl5qaKa2TWXCdfAzYo8vTDoLWhJYqnNIx3k67a_dAP4L-YpFSPaMJiyg/s320/temple.gif" width="227" /></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In addition to Temple Grandin's two presentations for our farmer audience at the day conference, Dr. Grandin will also be presenting to a general audience in the evening of January 21, at 7 pm. She'll be talking about her life and experience as an autistic person. This is an amazing opportunity for anyone who would like to learn more about living life with autism. Tickets are $10 per person, or $25 for a family of four. If you are registered for the day conference Saturday, your admission is already covered.</span><br />
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Oh! And we've set up an online rideshare board, for both the </span><a href="http://www.ridebuzz.org/events-group/2012-vt-grazing-livestock-conference-16636.html" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" target="_blank">main conference</a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, and for just the </span><a href="http://www.ridebuzz.org/events-group/january-21-temple-grandin-general-audience-presentation-16638.html" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" target="_blank">evening session</a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">. </span>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-33180149068044195952012-01-03T11:59:00.000-08:002012-01-03T11:59:59.256-08:00VT Grazing & Livestock Conference January 20 & 21<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzdeI7TbAnEt5gdFoO54xPmYy5z-vCHT5iBez40e9ZcvhhDw6o9hVNE3ezxwhYqClemTNQCY2rulMrC224G2GLnvCM4_dX7OYS3Z2a2PQ2-CI7B4Igl0-BW-NFjsikWyWh1XgR4gwXGk/s1600/2012covergraphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzdeI7TbAnEt5gdFoO54xPmYy5z-vCHT5iBez40e9ZcvhhDw6o9hVNE3ezxwhYqClemTNQCY2rulMrC224G2GLnvCM4_dX7OYS3Z2a2PQ2-CI7B4Igl0-BW-NFjsikWyWh1XgR4gwXGk/s320/2012covergraphic.jpg" width="251" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Happy New Year, and it's time to start thinking about the next grazing season. Too soon? Not at all! The time to learn and think and plan is NOW. Well, soon.</span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We are extremely excited to be hosting Dr. Temple Grandin as this year's keynote speaker, at Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, VT. Just off I-91, the conference is easily accessible throughout New England, and well worth the drive.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Detailed conference schedule <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/%7Epasture/Documents/2012webbrochure.pdf" target="_blank">HERE</a>. </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We do welcome walk ins (hey, we know farmers!), BUT if you preregister by January 13, you'll be included in the door prize drawing, and that ain't hay.</div>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-19493535390810092692011-11-28T09:00:00.000-08:002011-11-28T09:00:51.667-08:00Grazing Resources<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From time to time I run across some amazing resources and breadth of grazing experience shared by farmers who are also excellent writers. Dave Forgey is one of these people whom we all can learn from.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As the days grow darker and you all think about professional development readings for next season...check this out:</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><a href="http://www.forgraze.com/dnn/" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" target="_blank">Dave Forgey's farm web site & writing</a> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And...I hope you enjoy this photo from earlier in the summer. Don't forget you can use your livestock to manage those pesky weeds! Feel free to contact the <a href="mailto:jcolby@uvm.edu" target="_blank">Pasture Program</a> to learn more about how to implement this simple process.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihl59m6qdPR3qYFaTpdz7eHxbys01PFyN_AcJcXPnVzAw4XaUOpbjD5xz5-qsgXAH9tQT0gZp8bhz5ex3lqUFTjmG8WTZnqzlGGESgSGOikqpl9IBA05evR6k0GNJ8S1D_1nEzEyvNFpk/s1600/Group2_72dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihl59m6qdPR3qYFaTpdz7eHxbys01PFyN_AcJcXPnVzAw4XaUOpbjD5xz5-qsgXAH9tQT0gZp8bhz5ex3lqUFTjmG8WTZnqzlGGESgSGOikqpl9IBA05evR6k0GNJ8S1D_1nEzEyvNFpk/s320/Group2_72dpi.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teaching cows to eat weeds at Windhorse Farm in East Hardwick, VT</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-87489653756946911802011-11-02T10:46:00.000-07:002011-11-02T10:46:24.350-07:00Tillage Radishes & Pasture Compaction<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Coming up next week, a highlight of the Pasture Program project on reducing compaction in pastures using practical, inexpensive methods. One aspect of the project has been assessing <a href="http://vtpasture.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-now-keyline-plow.html">keyline plowing</a>. The other method has been the use of tillage radishes. Tillage radishes, a variation of the daikon radish, have been tested for use addressing compaction on cropped land. Using them to address compaction in pastures is a new application.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If you'd like a sneak preview, check out this field-recorded video:</div><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYHL5CCkhYM" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tillage radish YouTube link</a><br />
<br />
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</style> <![endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">To watch the segment in its entirety, please watch 'Across the Fence' on WCAX-TV, Channel 3 at 12:10 on Nov. 8. The full-length program will also be archived on the UVM Extension website: <a href="http://uvm.edu/extension">uvm.edu/extension</a></span>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-39607154672430939572011-10-28T09:06:00.000-07:002011-10-30T10:18:18.027-07:00Water Quality on a VT Grass-Based Farm<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Farmer Eric Noel in Highgate shared these videos with us. His land is located in the Rock River watershed, one of the priority areas affecting Lake Champlain. Water from about 2,500 acres surrounding him drains through his farm. Eric believes very strongly in grazing to protect water quality, and here's video documentation of why he feels that grazing and clean water are a natural fit. By the way, if you'd like to learn a little more about happenings on Eric's farm, check out the July<a href="http://vtpasture.blogspot.com/2011_07_01_archive.html"> "dart throwing"</a> post.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">First, a shot of Eric's farm and the water from his runoff. He raises beef and does custom pasturing of other farms' cows on his 100% grazing farm. He practices mob stocking and a holistic planned grazing system.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E15g1NChvw0">http://www.youtube.com/vtpasture</a> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Second, a shot of the runoff from Eric's farm and another grazing farm (the water coming from the right) and the runoff from a dairy farm with a roughly 1/2 hay, 1/2 cropping system.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AANxsiEC8Jc">http://www.youtube.com/vtpasture</a> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Finally, a shot of the water coming from the mixture of the two grazing farms and the dairy on the right, and the runoff from a crops-only farm on the left. Note that what was "dirty" in the second video is now what looks "clean" in this video.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqdKaoL65fM">http://www.youtube.com/vtpasture</a><br />
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We in the VT Pasture Network appreciate all kinds of farms, and we are here to help them create improved water quality through grazing and good pasture management. <br />
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Give us a call at (802) 656-0858, email <a href="mailto:jcolby@uvm.edu">jcolby@uvm.edu</a> or visit <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/pasture">www.uvm.edu/pasture</a><br />
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</div>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-70093936434071691902011-09-19T08:32:00.000-07:002011-09-19T08:32:55.673-07:00Additional Flooding Resources for Pastures & Forages<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Extension Agronomist Sid Bosworth has updated his <a href="http://pss.uvm.edu/vtcrops/?Page=articles/Resources_flooded_forages.html">web site</a> with a bunch of flood-related materials, including a new handout <a href="http://pss.uvm.edu/vtcrops/articles/Flooded_Crops_Factsheet_%20Irene_2011_UVMExtension.pdf">Managing Flood Damaged Crops from Tropical Storm Irene</a>.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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</m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-21190998317767474502011-09-16T06:05:00.000-07:002011-09-16T06:05:41.032-07:00Free soil testing of flooded fields<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoPlainText"><span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Agricultural and Environmental Testing Lab at the University of Vermont Department of Plant and Soil Science is assisting commercial farmers in Vermont with assessment of post-flood soil conditions in their fields.</span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Upon request, they will expedite the turn-around time on tests for both routine soil fertility and heavy metals, with results available in a matter of days. They offer heavy metals screening as an add-on to the routine fertility test as well as a heavy metals test similar to what an environmental lab would run. Choose the latter if your only concern is possible metal contamination. The heavy metal screening that accompanies the fertility test will inform you as whether or not a metals problem exists (the environmental test will give more precise concentrations).</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Both tests are now being offered until October 15, 2011 at no charge to commercial Vermont farms for flooded fields only; please note on the soil questionnaire submitted with the sample that the soil is from a flooded field. The form is available at <a href="http://pss.uvm.edu/ag_testing">http://pss.uvm.edu/ag_testing</a> or call 802-656-3030.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For non-flooded fields and home garden plots, please refer to the website for regular turn-around times and price information for soil testing and other analyses.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In addition, UVM's Vern Grubinger and Don Ross have just released an information sheet called, "Intrepreting the Results of Soil Tests for Heavy Metals" -- it can be found at: </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/interpreting_heavy_metals_soil_tests.pdf">http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/interpreting_heavy_metals_soil_tests.pdf</a></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A forage handout with updated recommendations is currently being completed and will be shared as soon as it is final.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Be safe out there and PLEASE contact me if you need assistance in any way.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jenn</div></m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-41126424636079668522011-08-30T07:04:00.000-07:002011-08-30T07:04:22.117-07:00Pasture Flooding Resources<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I hope all of you out there are OK and that you and your animals have made it through without injury or worse...</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm starting to get questions about how to handle stored feed, corn, pasture and hay that has been flooded. Thankfully, there's an excellent resource from UVM Extension on the subject at: </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.uvm.edu/pss/vtcrops/articles/Flooded_Crops_UVMExtFS_2011.pdf">http://www.uvm.edu/pss/vtcrops/articles/Flooded_Crops_UVMExtFS_2011.pdf</a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From the VT Agency of Ag press release about reporting damage. You are also welcome to contact VGFA at my email address: jcolby@uvm.edu or (802) 656-0858. I will forward on reports, too.</div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">• <b><i>If there is damage to any part of your property or business</i></b>, including but not limited to barns, milking parlors, crops, fields, equipment, etc., this information should be reported to your county USDA Farm Service Agency or your county Natural Resources Conservation Services office; you can also contact organizations to which you belong such as the Vermont Farm Bureau at 802-434-5646 or NOFA Vermont 802-434-4122. These organizations should send a summary of the information to the Agency of Agriculture which will then forward to VEM. Farmers experiencing loss of crops due to flooding should contact their crop insurance agent immediately as well as USDA Farm Service Agency.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Farmers are encouraged to keep in touch with USDA Farm Service Agency at 802-658-2803 and Natural Resources Conservation Service at 802-951-6796.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Lastly, there are a number of resources about clean up and emergency recovery at the <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/extension/">UVM Extension web site</a>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Be safe,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jenn</span></span></div></m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-34757679031443040782011-08-25T07:28:00.000-07:002011-08-26T12:22:56.495-07:00September 10: Scale Up Regional Meat Processing<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Plan now to attend this terrific regional event, coordinated by VT Ag Agency, NOFA-VT and the Pasture Program...</div><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <a href="http://vtmeat.blogspot.com/p/september-10-scaling-up-producing.html">September 10: Scaling Up Regional Meat Processing</a></div><br />
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VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-72695514408970551522011-07-29T12:42:00.000-07:002011-07-29T12:42:46.969-07:00Darts R Us<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7UZZpbk9LacBVEhIMoCr251MaDL8gF7W_UbodgCkwBrDSl7O1cbdHiE9E9Xltj2acsR11PSHnC7tXUYYkxefKIWKgLPqgO1lhQYOm8K7Jag0mIvrwQgFYU_4msoi-Y9HhNLVGMawflJU/s1600/Castings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7UZZpbk9LacBVEhIMoCr251MaDL8gF7W_UbodgCkwBrDSl7O1cbdHiE9E9Xltj2acsR11PSHnC7tXUYYkxefKIWKgLPqgO1lhQYOm8K7Jag0mIvrwQgFYU_4msoi-Y9HhNLVGMawflJU/s200/Castings.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I've been promising for some time to talk about our SARE Comprehensive Grazing Course. It's a pretty cool project that I'm very excited to be part of. Here's some text from an article I wrote about one recent training day, with photos:</i><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What do a retired NY NRCS employee, a permaculture consultant and a U.S. Senator's staffer have in common?<span> </span>Darts!<span> </span>This is no smoky bar room game, but an opportunity to learn more about reading the farm's environmental landscape and monitor biological changes resulting from farm management decisions. For many natural resource and grazing planners, these ideas are leaping off the page into the pasture as part of a NESARE-funded regional comprehensive grazing course.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggQaOiYqg1V6lLMuWUwb_eN8DsIpZXPzcDhbuHpzF4_Ptc3bRbx7uyBN01RH_aqiqjL3-dbURQE3-NmHnW2Gq3IpHdz-IFGJF0ddc7k6oGoRsb7i578h-xGuvSfU8qRzjUBGgaa5yixFw/s1600/Group2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggQaOiYqg1V6lLMuWUwb_eN8DsIpZXPzcDhbuHpzF4_Ptc3bRbx7uyBN01RH_aqiqjL3-dbURQE3-NmHnW2Gq3IpHdz-IFGJF0ddc7k6oGoRsb7i578h-xGuvSfU8qRzjUBGgaa5yixFw/s200/Group2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_Cdo-5oF6Ll1n4PayJbde4HL3G8c-9gqw7lCdnPG9r2DGtAghw7nCXUU8Xr1seAqNodA-UdgbiJJaJlNIHOP4CXl6ePPE-r1-fKgWGI_sH9XQeXL2wC8gvB0IA8hm2p020DScqAengU/s1600/Dan1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_Cdo-5oF6Ll1n4PayJbde4HL3G8c-9gqw7lCdnPG9r2DGtAghw7nCXUU8Xr1seAqNodA-UdgbiJJaJlNIHOP4CXl6ePPE-r1-fKgWGI_sH9XQeXL2wC8gvB0IA8hm2p020DScqAengU/s200/Dan1.jpg" width="200" /></a>On this sunny day in Highgate, VT trainees from four states join lead trainer Troy Bishopp and VT training coordinator Jenn Colby at Maplewood Organics to try their hands at sizing paddocks, moving cows and throwing darts.<span> </span>Host farmer Eric Noel has been using a planned grazing system for six years, focusing on high density animal impact and grazing the plants at a taller height to address his own farm and family goals.<span> </span>Some of Noel's decisions mean his cows have cooler feet and greater comfort in the summer, nesting bobolinks have safe areas to raise their young, and the farm business is more profitable by using stockpiled pasture rather than purchasing stored feed.<span> </span>As Noel describes, he tries to bring the animals to feed, or the animals to pasture, and <i>"tries to eliminate starting the tractor.</i>" <span> </span>His stockpiled feed strategy saved him nearly $1100 in 2010 feed costs.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS1lfWqpw6zoHg-kfiKk9Syd4J9c6MnCcSgpj51_1EofzZKjAKcVII20U04OTsVMxwVI_oA_pdKQNKOc52N7IQGgCSwfUAD4fq1TsYk92FDSRgNKQx6BA_j1-ElNUgbPXBnxhMr9Y4wP4/s1600/Group1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS1lfWqpw6zoHg-kfiKk9Syd4J9c6MnCcSgpj51_1EofzZKjAKcVII20U04OTsVMxwVI_oA_pdKQNKOc52N7IQGgCSwfUAD4fq1TsYk92FDSRgNKQx6BA_j1-ElNUgbPXBnxhMr9Y4wP4/s200/Group1.jpg" width="200" /></a> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQZ2SksxGd1ujnKgma6J709GeSMFHiCChgjREDVNraycQ7iFg1KaYgIwr5F109qBWLGVie-Vxw05fOuz9aTcdCayqoncnJseGPRRpJ7K_bTTAXpQV6TmzI9xWlHkOdyeDVH5B8kE8jeQ/s1600/JennyDart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQZ2SksxGd1ujnKgma6J709GeSMFHiCChgjREDVNraycQ7iFg1KaYgIwr5F109qBWLGVie-Vxw05fOuz9aTcdCayqoncnJseGPRRpJ7K_bTTAXpQV6TmzI9xWlHkOdyeDVH5B8kE8jeQ/s200/JennyDart.jpg" width="161" /></a>After a morning session dedicated to understanding the farm's current grazing system and developing the "grazier's eye" regarding how large to make a new paddock for Maplewood's head of 150 mixed age cattle, the trainees debate the workings of the four ecosystem processes integrated throughout the farm.<span> </span>Observing the water cycle, mineral cycle, energy cycle and community dynamics are ways to understand and identify areas where farming systems are working well and guide answers as to why they might not be.<span> </span>Effective breakdown of manure and plant matter, well drained pastures and fields, a healthy mix of plants are all indicators of well-functioning systems. Today, some of the more experienced trainees have a lively discussion about the benefits of dying plant matter, "litter", to the health of the soil.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIrxGk19zq6Zm4eRt1cpKqP9ldxvGREcV0qP9ousIH3ApzCEfe-oc4POlhqtF0iZF8Gj15WBvph4MqasaPoc1v9iqrhYPW12cSXUCOPdIiLYpc7tBnBtZyvANDms2KZ1GEnyynB8jG48/s1600/wormhole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIrxGk19zq6Zm4eRt1cpKqP9ldxvGREcV0qP9ousIH3ApzCEfe-oc4POlhqtF0iZF8Gj15WBvph4MqasaPoc1v9iqrhYPW12cSXUCOPdIiLYpc7tBnBtZyvANDms2KZ1GEnyynB8jG48/s200/wormhole.jpg" width="200" /></a>Once the basics were established, participants break into subgroups to practice throwing darts and assessing what's down at the soil level.<span> </span>Trainees are joined by additional Extension staff, a Holistic Management course trainee, and Jenny Nelson from US Senator Bernie Sanders' office.<span> </span>Each group is assigned to a different pasture in order to collect baseline information that Eric Noel will be able to use in the future to understand whether his decisions are improving or degrading his farm.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Moving along a straight line, one person throws a dart.<span> </span>The team hastens to see where the dart hit and fills out a worksheet detailing the type of material the dart hit, and spreads the plants apart around the dart to really look at what's going on.<span> </span>They record percentage of bare soil, plant species, presence of worm holes, soil type and more.<span> </span>This hands-on activity requires getting close to the soil and plants, and might lead to getting a little dirty.<span> </span>These trainees loved it.<span> </span>"<i>I found more things going on than it looked like to the casual eye</i>", says Bruce Howlett, a grazing planner with MA NRCS.<span> </span>"<i>I really enjoyed seeing all the worm activity</i>", says Dan Hudson, UVM agronomist.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ending the day with refreshing mint and strawberry ice cream from Strafford Organic Creamery, the trainees are enthusiastic about the next training session.<span> </span>As part of the course, they are translating what they learn directly to farmers through a three-year intensive partnership.<span> </span>What's next?<span> </span>Whether throwing darts, driving posts, or discussing feed cost savings, we know there'll be a quiz on this.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYiX2pqDnaaBUTW4hLZHgiIub7JIkHOT8eLa3ksy_lZdD5ntyEWA2LoqDqNVMS_ZN0FR1Pd00nOzVg0HMXHPVHFzq24KSeGS8K1T_Cb07QSwLCmeRMrXP7R3uVIgMW1pwGuXIb2TQvvD8/s1600/Groupfaces.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYiX2pqDnaaBUTW4hLZHgiIub7JIkHOT8eLa3ksy_lZdD5ntyEWA2LoqDqNVMS_ZN0FR1Pd00nOzVg0HMXHPVHFzq24KSeGS8K1T_Cb07QSwLCmeRMrXP7R3uVIgMW1pwGuXIb2TQvvD8/s320/Groupfaces.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span></span></span>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-69429705346515446732011-07-01T14:14:00.000-07:002011-07-01T14:14:57.168-07:00How Now Keyline Plow<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2Xb_V296OeigOhjrvufy_FXq50aZrQuMXzDSrZ7ri-j6pZ0u3M_k8l7ZhrNaUxAyO4hEDCbl7baQbkt1nyL0HdbJILh73Ykz-QWpfoFX0j0yIClhwZ3aD4U-5FU0wV-OPvuvHn_h7tI/s1600/plow3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2Xb_V296OeigOhjrvufy_FXq50aZrQuMXzDSrZ7ri-j6pZ0u3M_k8l7ZhrNaUxAyO4hEDCbl7baQbkt1nyL0HdbJILh73Ykz-QWpfoFX0j0yIClhwZ3aD4U-5FU0wV-OPvuvHn_h7tI/s320/plow3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The plow shanks run below the surface slicing through the soil.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Field Report from the June 9 Keyline Plow Event</b> hosted by Lyle & Kitty Edwards:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our workshop occurred on the first sunny day in weeks and understandably was lightly attended by farmers. It was a perfect opportunity for our project team to check out the site, oversee a new round of plowing (this is Year 2 of the project), talk with our host farmers about their observations so far, and have a little professional development around the concepts of keyline plowing and set up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">You can learn more about the keyline project and how we are testing ways to address pasture compaction through plowing and the use of tillage radishes at the <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/%7Epasture/?Page=compaction.html">VPN web site</a>.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzlCBDUAeqPahSbQQOapboxN7fhZHkxHAzJTb96t0M74Elzh74Dfter6fGS2m85mFPq-v1goHMM6f2XdbEkKqPPNAGhFWyp0oFoQg7MP04Zom9d9NqW0IiuHXKNDKwpI5nbS8g1UCxmwg/s1600/slice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzlCBDUAeqPahSbQQOapboxN7fhZHkxHAzJTb96t0M74Elzh74Dfter6fGS2m85mFPq-v1goHMM6f2XdbEkKqPPNAGhFWyp0oFoQg7MP04Zom9d9NqW0IiuHXKNDKwpI5nbS8g1UCxmwg/s320/slice.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Up close: the shanks leave a small opening.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySHhoIgExXCNwBtSY3vkz1lueLGPzTUJsrKfPRq8pPqhj4gBuU7uFHxsQUHXuVZhcXYRigQs2tzb5rdwRAvxP8BXj03gtCc-lzLEWkfa9CnkFF7r5lUSlbh52IusqCVivPShtJarvG1A/s1600/SidMark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySHhoIgExXCNwBtSY3vkz1lueLGPzTUJsrKfPRq8pPqhj4gBuU7uFHxsQUHXuVZhcXYRigQs2tzb5rdwRAvxP8BXj03gtCc-lzLEWkfa9CnkFF7r5lUSlbh52IusqCVivPShtJarvG1A/s320/SidMark.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Extension Agronomist Sid Bosworth describing grass structure.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtF_VKUYDI4mgaRht07d9DQ5-nz6zJmFvz64V20jcbhyphenhyphen1V7GuD2-b5wLUYymxNmJp6Myx9qp9U3UTkZwQkKlzh2RjASFCIUCeubvjwJLa3pgXnssM8qtUrq5z3z5-L8CxMgbAV1dpHl7I/s1600/RachelSpud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtF_VKUYDI4mgaRht07d9DQ5-nz6zJmFvz64V20jcbhyphenhyphen1V7GuD2-b5wLUYymxNmJp6Myx9qp9U3UTkZwQkKlzh2RjASFCIUCeubvjwJLa3pgXnssM8qtUrq5z3z5-L8CxMgbAV1dpHl7I/s320/RachelSpud.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Project coordinator Rachel Gilker and host farmer Lyle Edwards .</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Keyline plowing uses a subsoil plow method with a very flat plow shank (about 8%) to slice through the soil and create channels below the surface. These channels help break up soil compaction, create a place for new roots to grow with less effort and direct water more easily. While most of the participating farmers are not testing the plow for its water-directing capabilities, they've observed changes in water movement anyway. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the course of our visit, the group was able to check out the plow lines from last year. The cuts were completely sealed and mostly indetectable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our partner and Keyline plow owner/operator Mark Krawczyk showed us how he sites the original line using a laser level over the transition point of the land where it moves from convex to concave. This is the key line. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Once the first line is flagged and plowed, Mark travels the same line (often a curving trail) in parallel passes. This year's plowing will be at a deeper level than last year's. Typically, the first application is at a shallower depth to start breaking up compaction and then following applications can go deeper without burning out the tractor.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4BtegOX2iy1OmwG7hsychoyA0WEH6wmBb2tMxbBRYUsHf_LOa3zhDDLZXU_Lo3lBW704Z8Z5gwOHtZrMuE5LuKwn8I8QLkpCmOkyP0XDgjrezMfVdlCbzg0WRzAWS_Oct1e4Kyo_h3o/s1600/Spudplow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4BtegOX2iy1OmwG7hsychoyA0WEH6wmBb2tMxbBRYUsHf_LOa3zhDDLZXU_Lo3lBW704Z8Z5gwOHtZrMuE5LuKwn8I8QLkpCmOkyP0XDgjrezMfVdlCbzg0WRzAWS_Oct1e4Kyo_h3o/s320/Spudplow.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lyle Edwards describing his observations.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While Mark continued the plowing, our group went on to look at the pastures and refresh ourselves on pasture plant ID with Extension Agronomists Sid Bosworth and Dan Hudson. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxr9WyHyiJzeP2mJj-s6LdJUTq4sNoRSHeJoiEi5GBKHDvYQV1rUMqm7uXZZG6j2_U2WRWO1vK4MuGg8ToSKEiAm89t9NjpIeDE0U6S6u5H5YS7vfiYWsf_dAE6vhsReCqof4VcR7QSY/s1600/Danplow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxr9WyHyiJzeP2mJj-s6LdJUTq4sNoRSHeJoiEi5GBKHDvYQV1rUMqm7uXZZG6j2_U2WRWO1vK4MuGg8ToSKEiAm89t9NjpIeDE0U6S6u5H5YS7vfiYWsf_dAE6vhsReCqof4VcR7QSY/s320/Danplow.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The plow has containers to spread seed into the plow cuts.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A great day. UVM graduate student Bridget Jamison is working with the UVM Plant & Soil Science Department to study the changes in soil structure, density and carbon sequestration through the project. We'll be sure to share results as soon as there are some to report. In the meantime, plan now to attend the pasture event <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/%7Epasture/?Page=2011walks.html">August 10 at Guy Choiniere's farm</a> to learn more about his results with the keyline plow, as well as how he's feeding small grains from the farm, and managing manure through a bedded pack barn. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here are a few more photos to complete the day. Is it wrong to hope for rain next time?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jenn </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2y60Gy52XBSJ8wI6fzQ38txClFUr97brtFSRPEsZOzSSGiarasT8vaQuIr5kpsjHa09vkgcQLsZ3dyyAb1IemoH2TJmIo8XgBkiR1Ij0SMj9xjNQk57TONeBoysTP5O6hGxW40VobwPk/s1600/DanBridg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2y60Gy52XBSJ8wI6fzQ38txClFUr97brtFSRPEsZOzSSGiarasT8vaQuIr5kpsjHa09vkgcQLsZ3dyyAb1IemoH2TJmIo8XgBkiR1Ij0SMj9xjNQk57TONeBoysTP5O6hGxW40VobwPk/s320/DanBridg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Agronomist Dan Hudson and grad student Bridget Jamison.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCRdkabKZrRek7rOx0A4s-Hk6FIdh4RgcwghPKCrvoQHKQucQDnOxiOb26hBT3bLoMTTbpn2Z5v_C9-K6tLr1jSROXyJxRuJ2GgMqeCy24Q7ozwQzJrZNb3C-rweFzgqZMMCIJ7omLRU/s1600/Jackscalves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbwMSH2eGZzQEgaPyPmFiZLAwIUzbMnrnxGE7Rhme1k2uwrNwlKx_tphrUpfeQ5HDC5BmS4OhimANvJGKUB2Ly3D7HrG3xtzm-NZdKFNiZD1QBt03jpdvLlsGiyKA2vQqo0lKyCkuCLM/s1600/Kitty2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbwMSH2eGZzQEgaPyPmFiZLAwIUzbMnrnxGE7Rhme1k2uwrNwlKx_tphrUpfeQ5HDC5BmS4OhimANvJGKUB2Ly3D7HrG3xtzm-NZdKFNiZD1QBt03jpdvLlsGiyKA2vQqo0lKyCkuCLM/s320/Kitty2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lovely Kitty Edwards.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UW5xcA8V7RYYTk0Yj_4SfKN-eRh6qUbCyrhO2db_hkKfj7Wa48AxYLCzmsjFCSAwmYcl0A_H1jyYQLlDgvXaDmwXLFxIVrHEW6WDScO84uZ0gM5SgktqMjjMz0es_aDn2mJNTUn7HI4/s1600/Mark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UW5xcA8V7RYYTk0Yj_4SfKN-eRh6qUbCyrhO2db_hkKfj7Wa48AxYLCzmsjFCSAwmYcl0A_H1jyYQLlDgvXaDmwXLFxIVrHEW6WDScO84uZ0gM5SgktqMjjMz0es_aDn2mJNTUn7HI4/s320/Mark.jpg" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once the key line is determined, new cuts are parallel.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYPXaAq6GQz6-tBgO6w0TRLjMcNuZ9gX0wDfn36JjIJ5ajcMiiZnDwL0ylAc401owcPIGTnCuPrWUWdXUHv7seZCAhIdEgOd682s6apczX3GXsCXaTrgPPWfcCXmy9B0libKxuMYXnVo/s1600/plow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYPXaAq6GQz6-tBgO6w0TRLjMcNuZ9gX0wDfn36JjIJ5ajcMiiZnDwL0ylAc401owcPIGTnCuPrWUWdXUHv7seZCAhIdEgOd682s6apczX3GXsCXaTrgPPWfcCXmy9B0libKxuMYXnVo/s320/plow.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A roller has now been added to the back of the plow.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCRdkabKZrRek7rOx0A4s-Hk6FIdh4RgcwghPKCrvoQHKQucQDnOxiOb26hBT3bLoMTTbpn2Z5v_C9-K6tLr1jSROXyJxRuJ2GgMqeCy24Q7ozwQzJrZNb3C-rweFzgqZMMCIJ7omLRU/s1600/Jackscalves.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCRdkabKZrRek7rOx0A4s-Hk6FIdh4RgcwghPKCrvoQHKQucQDnOxiOb26hBT3bLoMTTbpn2Z5v_C9-K6tLr1jSROXyJxRuJ2GgMqeCy24Q7ozwQzJrZNb3C-rweFzgqZMMCIJ7omLRU/s320/Jackscalves.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Final stop: a quick visit to the Butterworks Farm Jersey calves!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYPXaAq6GQz6-tBgO6w0TRLjMcNuZ9gX0wDfn36JjIJ5ajcMiiZnDwL0ylAc401owcPIGTnCuPrWUWdXUHv7seZCAhIdEgOd682s6apczX3GXsCXaTrgPPWfcCXmy9B0libKxuMYXnVo/s1600/plow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-19221160624992409482011-06-01T15:06:00.000-07:002011-06-01T15:06:06.572-07:002011 Pasture WalksIt's a beautiful day and there is no better way to learn about grazing management in action. Looking at plant swards, getting down on your knees to check for worm holes, listening to the cows munch and the good questions fly.<br />
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When people ask for help with grazing, we do have a lot of answers, but it's tough to prescribe the "right" answer for any farm. That's why getting out to events and workshops with other farmers can be just the ticket. New ideas & information, research studies and time-tested experience all come together in a swirl of synergy. It's downright poetic. You should come. The next event is <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/~pasture/Documents/060911EdwardsKeyline.pdf">June 9 in Westfield, VT</a><br />
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Here's the full list (as it develops) of the <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/~pasture/?Page=2011walks.html">events we are actively part of</a>, but there are additional events on the <a href="http://nofavt.org/upcoming-events-calendar">NOFA-VT</a> web site. <br />
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Don't hesitate! The grass is growing and waiting to feed your animals.VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-44644114473639179532011-05-17T13:30:00.000-07:002011-05-17T13:54:16.522-07:00Biomass, Meet Pasture...Pasture, Biomass<m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In addition to my position as your humble Pasture Outreach Coordinator, I've been spending a portion of my time providing outreach and logistical services to a community wood biomass project. The Center for Sustainable Ag and UVM's Rubenstein School of Natural Resources have partnered with Vermont Family Forests, Forest Guild and a Mad River Valley energy group to learn more about wood energy resources in two communities, how that wood is harvested, how it's used, and how it's paid for. Wow, what an eye-opening experience that has turned out to be for my <b>pasture</b> work.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Through the course of the project, which is now wrapping up (you can read project reports at <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/forestcarbon">www.uvm.edu/forestcarbon</a>), we've looked into how sustainably the resource is managed; how it's processed; how the higher and lower-valued products are marketed; how the land manager, the land owner and the processor receive reasonable rates for their products; and how external policies affect every day decisions. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sound familiar? Yeah, I thought so too.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Let's not forget the seasonality of wood production (a concept that I admit had never occurred to me). Many loggers work in the winter when the ground is frozen and timber mills must hose down their saw logs out in the yard to make sure the wood stays moist enough to saw and NOT dry enough to catch fire. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For the direct-sale marketers out there, this will also seem like a page torn out of your books: high end saw timber highly subsidizes the ability to provide wood chips or lower-expense biomass at "cheap" prices. Not entirely unlike the Rib Eye steak allows for cheap(er) hamburger. Can farmers make money on a ground-beef only cow? Can loggers/landowners/forest managers make money on forests cleared for wood chips? That last questions was resoundingly asked at a woody biomass field trip our project hosted in April. I was personally struck by the similarity of the responses I heard from the logger to the responses I have heard from many dairy farmers. Customers are not always willing to pay for us to manage the way that we would like. In the case of state contracts for wood chip heating facilities, the contracting system seeks the lowest price, which may not be enough money (realistically) to manage wood harvests in agreement with state law. Hmmm. Do we want the least expensive, or do we want to protect our environment and create livable wage jobs? These are questions that will need to be addressed in the future for all of our working landscape industries. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Finally, a thing that resonated with me was what Bob Perschel of Forest Guild said in his presentation about new sustainability guidelines for biomass harvest developed by the Guild. To paraphrase: "<i>We, the foresters and loggers, know more about the impacts of policy on the forests than anyone else. Shouldn't we be the ones leading the way?</i>"<br />
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Well, that made me think about grass-based and sustainable farmers too. </div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jgOgp1p8FiBiiChRjluw1NwO5x2Qor4Pk9wIS11bpJeDxnYpuweUrSvTkAwjwWZxE7W9CZdf7Rp-it6TGYs0g3WphesCKWwTeYeZUIr5s6fBA0CA9fbJpCARGz3CHVGEz3csKYOeP1Y/s1600/IMG_0749.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jgOgp1p8FiBiiChRjluw1NwO5x2Qor4Pk9wIS11bpJeDxnYpuweUrSvTkAwjwWZxE7W9CZdf7Rp-it6TGYs0g3WphesCKWwTeYeZUIr5s6fBA0CA9fbJpCARGz3CHVGEz3csKYOeP1Y/s320/IMG_0749.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Would you have known this forest was logged last year by looking at it? The biomass from this property in Lincoln, VT was logged according to sustainable guidelines and the cord wood sold in a pilot project following a CSA style. Prices were structured for the wood buyer to pay true costs (or close to them) of this management to the logger and land owners.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-68409413460142241862011-04-19T13:33:00.001-07:002011-04-25T17:20:30.462-07:00Whither Processing?With many meat livestock farmers that I talk to, sooner or later the topic of slaughter & processing comes up. Rarely does it seem to generate positive comments. Either the farmer feels like processing is too expensive, that they don't get everything back that they should, or that there just isn't room in processing line when they need one to be. Often the complaints refer to more than one of these issues. I'd be remiss if I pretended that I myself haven't had these experiences...the bill is how much (GULP)?<br />
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On the good side, I have a pretty positive relationship with my local processor and have heard the comments from the other side of that processing bill. Farmers who raise animals when the grass is green and want to ship everything in a September/October window of time. Farmers who don't understand the cuts of meat and options...such as if you want pork steaks, you have to cut up a ham. Farmers who are slow to pay. Processors have to pay to keep good help on, even in the slow times of the year. <br />
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On and on, it's a complicated system, and a very personal one. Each contributor to the relationship has the ability to make or break the business of the other. The side I fall on in this situation is that we all have to work together, because together we will succeed or together we will fall. The customers out there wanting to buy our products...they need us to succeed.<br />
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There will be more posts about this in the next few months as the <a href="http://vtmeat.blogspot.com/">VT Meat Workshop Series</a> gets going, but in the mean time, we all need to take the time to learn more about the State of Meat in Vermont. For a great overview, check out the Farm to Plate Initiative Strategic Plan section on <a href="http://www.vsjf.org/assets/files/Agriculture/Strat_Plan/Appendix%20E_Meeting%20the%20Demand.pdf">livestock infrastructure and meat processing</a>. It;s an excellent read and a good place to start your education. Already it's been useful for mine.VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561373687325699116.post-29194621128377873302011-04-14T19:11:00.000-07:002011-04-14T19:11:12.807-07:00Grass-based Media Smackdown<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">About a week ago, VT was visited by our illustrious NY grazing partner-in-crime Troy Bishopp of Bishopp Family Farm. For those of you who don't know Troy, you can acquaint yourself with his writing and farming activities at his web site: </div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.thegrasswhisperer.com/">http://www.thegrasswhisperer.com</a>/</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Technically, Troy was visiting our comprehensive grazing training group for our second training in the series (on planned grazing, more on that in another post). Troy is never one to avoid over commitment (and apparently neither am I), so he agreed to come a day early and lead a training for farmers wanting to improve their media skills. The training was great (although too short to get to all the topics), and one of our attendees showed up the rest of the group by submitting a letter to the editor the very next day! Even though I do outreach and media work a lot, there was plenty for me to learn and the process gave me a good kick to restart our VPN blog. For those with long memories, we had a blog several years ago, but the interface was grumpy and cumbersome. A new day.</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As a result of the media training and the advent of our new (again) blog, I'm announcing a grass-based grassroots media campaign. Let's spread the word about the benefits of grazing to the public. Let's share our perspectives as grass-based farmers through our newspapers and with our neighbors. Let's talk with farmers and neighbors (and farming neighbors!) about new ideas to address water quality, farm profitability and quality of life. Let's step up with our stories of success so that policy and decision makers can learn from us.</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So I've just started with some quick notes in several local newspapers:</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Submitted to the Randolph Herald 4/11/11:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9TACtZSQ_G2Mr2aH9JWURcTAzMxeZyjoxmSQxlj9brSEVKUg_baSoTVxjYkC-uXnH93XWbjK9YQudmNI52IRVIjvJK6w2oYwRox7cIBfM4pVXXzuTSKS5dp8UMNzLZSG1OLN3Qqg-pAM/s1600/IMG_0429.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9TACtZSQ_G2Mr2aH9JWURcTAzMxeZyjoxmSQxlj9brSEVKUg_baSoTVxjYkC-uXnH93XWbjK9YQudmNI52IRVIjvJK6w2oYwRox7cIBfM4pVXXzuTSKS5dp8UMNzLZSG1OLN3Qqg-pAM/s320/IMG_0429.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Caption: NY farmer and "Grass Whisperer", Troy Bishopp, recently visited Bethany Church teaching local farmers how to become more media-friendly. Bishopp encourages farmers to share their experience and perspectives about current events and how they relate back to farm issues. Workshop attendee Jinny Cleland of Four Springs Farm took the plunge with her Herald letter to the editor in last week's paper. (Photo: Jenn Colby)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">and to the VT Standard in Woodstock, VT 4/12/11:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLeRpWIcTGfamlF6JeuVkXQ1lnVJEv20_EqUGw5MSTiRH9yXbd5FCBmL2QzmiQS64wncbP3OlHG2QJXCkhm2LmzWQrwspY-1WiEAxJLXwViVKNLDB6RNb4VoyRoTtYaTtDwdlhdDLfFw/s1600/IMG_0530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLeRpWIcTGfamlF6JeuVkXQ1lnVJEv20_EqUGw5MSTiRH9yXbd5FCBmL2QzmiQS64wncbP3OlHG2QJXCkhm2LmzWQrwspY-1WiEAxJLXwViVKNLDB6RNb4VoyRoTtYaTtDwdlhdDLfFw/s320/IMG_0530.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent> <div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Caption: Bill & Cathy Emmons of Cloudland Farm hosted a training workshop for agricultural advisors helping farmers improve their pasture management skills. NY farmer and "Grass Whisperer" Troy Bishopp and Jennifer Colby of the UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture led the training for attendees from five states. After grazing on a delicious roast beef and caramelized onion sandwich buffet, the group was ready to dive back into debating the finer points of grazing grass and clovers. (Photo: Jenn Colby)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">So let the grazing smackdown begin! </span></b></span></div></m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac>VT Pasture Networkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776331682648170733noreply@blogger.com1