As corn and soybean prices continue to rise, feeding livestock economically is becoming a challenge. Many farmers in Ohio are gaining interest in grazing livestock to reduce feed costs and spend less time making hay. Management intensive grazing is a proven way to improve feed efficiency and decrease feed costs. Typical open grazing allows animals to manage the pasture selecting for only a few favorable species. This inefficient process results in only 30% feeding efficiency. Management intensive grazing puts the farmer in control and realizes feeding efficiencies closer to 60%.
The West Ohio Grazing School is a three day course in management intensive grazing. Two evening sessions held on July 14 and 21, from 6 to 8pm, along with the Saturday morning session held on July 23, will be held indoors in a classroom environment. Saturday after a lunch grilled by your favorite AgNR Educators, the program will move to a local intensively managed pasture to discuss fencing, watering systems, and paddock design.
Participants will receive eight hours of instruction, a Management Intensive Grazing Guide (worth its weight in gold!) and hands on learning in the field. They will also have the opportunity to pick the brain of the amazing Bob Hendershot, USDA-NRCS State Grassland Conservationist and Grazing Guru, and Jeff McCutcheon, OSU Extension Morrow County Educator and Grazing Guru. Jeff is also a Certified Grassland Professional and a Professional Animal Scientist. Also, if you have crop questions unrelated to grazing there will be a Certified Professional Agronomist and two Certified Crop Advisors on hand.
The grazing school will be held at The Ohio State University Extension, Shelby County Office. The office is located at 810 Fair Road, Sidney, Ohio 45365. All roads lead to Sidney, including State Routes 29, 706, and 47. The office is also conveniently located close to Interstate 75, and accessible via Exit 90 (Fair Road).
For more information or to register contact The Ohio State University Extension Office in Darke County, Ohio, at (937) 548-5215 or visit http://darke.osu.edu. The early registration deadline is July 8th. After the deadline late registration will run from July 9th to July 12th. Before the 8th the registration fee is $50. After the 8th the late registration fee will be $60. There will be no registration after the 12th or at the door.
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