Darts R Us

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:

What do a retired NY NRCS employee, a permaculture consultant and a U.S. Senator's staffer have in common?  Darts!  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.

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.  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.  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.  As Noel describes, he tries to bring the animals to feed, or the animals to pasture, and "tries to eliminate starting the tractor."  His stockpiled feed strategy saved him nearly $1100 in 2010 feed costs.

 

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.  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.  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. 

Once the basics were established, participants break into subgroups to practice throwing darts and assessing what's down at the soil level.  Trainees are joined by additional Extension staff, a Holistic Management course trainee, and Jenny Nelson from US Senator Bernie Sanders' office.  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.

Moving along a straight line, one person throws a dart.  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.  They record percentage of bare soil, plant species, presence of worm holes, soil type and more.  This hands-on activity requires getting close to the soil and plants, and might lead to getting a little dirty.  These trainees loved it.  "I found more things going on than it looked like to the casual eye", says Bruce Howlett, a grazing planner with MA NRCS.  "I really enjoyed seeing all the worm activity", says Dan Hudson, UVM agronomist.

Ending the day with refreshing mint and strawberry ice cream from Strafford Organic Creamery, the trainees are enthusiastic about the next training session.  As part of the course, they are translating what they learn directly to farmers through a three-year intensive partnership.  What's next?  Whether throwing darts, driving posts, or discussing feed cost savings, we know there'll be a quiz on this.

 

How Now Keyline Plow

The plow shanks run below the surface slicing through the soil.

Field Report from the June 9 Keyline Plow Event hosted by Lyle & Kitty Edwards:

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.


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 VPN web site.

Up close: the shanks leave a small opening.

Extension Agronomist Sid Bosworth describing grass structure.

Project coordinator Rachel Gilker and host farmer Lyle Edwards .

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.  

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. 

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. 
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.

Lyle Edwards describing his observations.

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. 

The plow has containers to spread seed into the plow cuts.

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 August 10 at Guy Choiniere's farm 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.


Here are a few more photos to complete the day.  Is it wrong to hope for rain next time?

Jenn

 Agronomist Dan Hudson and grad student Bridget Jamison.

The lovely Kitty Edwards.

Once the key line is determined, new cuts are parallel.

A roller has now been added to the back of the plow.

Final stop: a quick visit to the Butterworks Farm Jersey calves!

2011 Pasture Walks

It'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.

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 June 9 in Westfield, VT

Here's the full list (as it develops) of the events we are actively part of, but there are additional events on the NOFA-VT web site. 

Don't hesitate!  The grass is growing and waiting to feed your animals.

Biomass, Meet Pasture...Pasture, Biomass

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 pasture work.

Through the course of the project, which is now wrapping up (you can read project reports at www.uvm.edu/forestcarbon), 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. 

Sound familiar?  Yeah, I thought so too.

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. 

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.

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: "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?"

Well, that made me think about grass-based and sustainable farmers too.

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.

Whither 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)?

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.

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.

There will be more posts about this in the next few months as the VT Meat Workshop Series 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 livestock infrastructure and meat processing.  It;s an excellent read and a good place to start your education.  Already it's been useful for mine.

Grass-based Media Smackdown

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:

http://www.thegrasswhisperer.com/

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.

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.

So I've just started with some quick notes in several local newspapers:

Submitted to the Randolph Herald 4/11/11:

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)

and to the VT Standard in Woodstock, VT 4/12/11:

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)

So let the grazing smackdown begin!