Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons^™

A Forage Area Of Expertise Team: The Michigan Approach To Applied Research And Extension, Richard Leep, D. H. Min

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Agricultural Experiment Stations and the Cooperative Extension Service have traditionally contributed to the economic, social, human, and environmental capital of the United States. Despite this, both institutions have experienced declining federal budget support and increasing competition for resources (Hamm 1997; Hood & Schutjer 1990; Knutson & Outlaw 1994; Paarlberg 1992). Michigan State University Extension, in partnership with the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, implemented self-directed area of expertise (AOE) teams as its major educational development and delivery model. AOE teams grew out of experiences with previous temporary research/Extension teams and quick response professional groups operating within traditional line responsibilities for research …

Technology Transfer Through A Network Of Producer Groups, D. J. Thomson, R. Smith

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The objective was to enhance the rate of uptake of research and development (R & D) in the context of the whole farm business. This paper reports on two pilot projects - SWARD (South West Agricultural and Rural Development - Devon and Cornwall) and GARD (Gloucestershire Agricultural and Rural Development). The projects were focused on improving the quality of decision making at a time of change, through the provision of R & D results and information within an integrated group support service. Key aspects of the approach are outlined below.

Using Abandoned Paddy Fields For Grazing In Northern Japan, M. Nashiki, H. Narita, Y. Higashiyama

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The number of abandoned paddy fields is increasing in Japan, because the government has been regulating rice production. It has been recommended that the abandoned paddy fields be used for stock raising. However, there is sometimes a lack of information about the land on the abandoned paddy fields and farmers want to know the cost of fencing and the best grass species to use. This paper seeks to provide farmers with information on how to begin to use the abandoned paddy fields as pastures in hilly rural areas in Japan.

Utilisation Of Whole-Crop Rice Silage As A Feed For Ruminants, N. Yoshida, M. Ogawa, Y. Cai, H. Nemoto, M. Ishida

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

A national project on the utilisation of whole-plant rice (Oryza sativa L.) as a feed has developed in Japan since 2000. The use of a home-produced forage may be useful to reassure consumers concerned with risks of BSE and foot and mouth disease. Furthermore, Japanese farmers have been obliged to convert one million ha of paddy field from rice to other crops.

Development Of A Grazing Land Management Education Program For Northern Australia’S Grasslands And Grassy Woodlands, Chris R. Chilcott, M. F. Quirk, C. J. Paton, B. S. Nelson, T. Oxley

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Recognition of the potential to enhance grazing land management to meet the goal of sustainable beef production has been increasing over the past decade. Recognition of the relationship between poor land management and negative off-site environmental impacts, such as soil erosion and a decline in the condition of rivers and adjacent near shore coastal areas from sediment transport, has increased also. This concern has matured somewhat to include the critical link between land condition and production, and the threat to sustainable carrying capacity that comes from declining land condition. Concurrently, interest has increased in optimising the use of pasture, e.g. …

Forage-Animal Production Research Unit (Fapru): Establishment Of A New Usda-Ars Research Location, J. R. Strickland, Glen E. Aiken, Isabelle Kagan, R. D. Dinkins

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Forages are vital to the success of grazing livestock production systems. Forages provide a low cost source of nutrients for animal production (Barnes & Nelson 2003; Ball et al., 1996). Limited fundamental (i.e., genomic, proteomic, metabolomic) research on the effects of environment and management on plant quality and production and the effects of plant metabolites (i.e., nutrients, anti-quality factors, nutraceuticals) on animal performance has hindered our ability to improve the productivity of forage-based enterprises. There is insufficient information for reliable prediction of animal performance in response to plant metabolites. To address these issues, USDA-ARS established FAPRU (Forage-Animal Production Research …

A Systems Approach To Assessing The Viability Of Grazing Legume Systems Across Europe, C. F. E. Topp, C. J. Smith, L. Wu, G. Molle

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Forage legumes are important in grassland farming throughout much of the world because of their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, and hence they are expected to play an increasingly prominent role in low- input grazing farming systems in Europe. Nevertheless, the socio-economic impact of the adoption of the "new" legume based grazing technologies have been poorly researched (Rochon et al., 2004). Thus a methodology has been developed to:

* Assess the on-farm costs and benefits of including different legume crops for animal production;
* Determine the types of management systems and environmental conditions under which forage legumes may play …

Land Stewardship For The 21St Century: Pasture And Livestock Management Workshop For Novices, L. A. Redmon, G. M. Clary, J. J. Cleere, G. W. Evers, V. A. Haby, C. R. Long, L. R. Nelson, F. M. Rouquette Jr., G. R. Smith

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Land ownership patterns in Texas and the southern USA are changing. Since 1994 (Wilkins et al., 2000) consumers interested primarily in recreational purposes have become the predominant owners of rural land. This land ownership change has created potential land stewardship problems associated with natural resource management. Few, if any, new landowners have any training related to the soil-plant-animal interface. New land owners need linkage with subject matter experts from land grant universities in a relaxed instructional setting while providing the opportunity for question and answer sessions. Thus, a programme was developed by a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency team at the Texas …

New Zealand Pastoral Systems: A Current Perspective, F. R. Duder, R. B. Green, W. D. Catto, D. R. Woodfield, B. R. Guy

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

New Zealand's diverse grassland resource of 13.5 M ha of permanent pasture, tussock or alpine grasslands underpin an intensive pastoral industry worth NZ$13 billion in 2004. The pastoral industry involves 37,000 farmers and a service industry of about 215,000 persons. It produces 27 M prime export lambs and 180,000 t of predominantly crossbred wool from 40 M ewes; 13 B litres of milk from 5.2 M dairy cattle; 800,000 t of beef from 4.7 M beef cattle and 33,000 t of venison from 2 M deer. Pastures and forage crops, mostly non- irrigated, are grazed 'in situ' by animals through …

A University Course On Management Intensive Grazing, D. L. Zartman

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Education of new talent in good grassland management is important. Farmer-oriented extension- and outreach- programs do this, but USA university curricula rarely include it. Some livestock production courses contain a segment on grazing management, but there seem to be no credit-bearing, formal courses in USA universities except in the Ohio State University (OSU). Our course teaches management of intensive grazing (MIG) for three credit hours in a quarter system. It has been a popular elective course for the past 6 years. Every year that they have entered, OSU students have won all prizes in the 18-22 age division in the …

Foragebeef.Ca Web Site: A Model For Technology Transfer, Duane H. Mccartney, R. Weisenburger, K. Ziegler, G. Vaillancourt, G. Hutton

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

We live in an age of information overload. As budgets for technology transfer of scientific information and extension education continue to fall, new ways to disseminate agricultural knowledge are needed. Research findings, published in many scientific journals and reports, are seldom readily available to extension agents and farmers. Over time some of this material is lost. This program aimed to locate the best information on various forage and beef topics relative to Canada and the Northern USA and to summarise them in condensed form and in scientific review papers for a web-based site.

Forages For Horses Programmes, G. W. Wilson, R. L. Hendershot, J. Hoorman

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

A survey by the American Horse Council in 1996 showed there were 6.9 million horses in the USA with 1.9 million horse owners and 7.1 million people involved in allied industries. The value of the USA horse industry to the gross national product is $25.3 billion. Nationally, 2.2 % of households own a horse but 4.9 % of households want to own a horse. Ohio's horse industry has 192,000 horses (7th nationally) and generates $776 million per year. Most of the 48,500 homes with horses in Ohio have 2-5 horses with 1-2 ha of land. Many exercise lots and high-use …

Forages For Horses, J. C. Fisher, D. H. Samples, R. A. Sherman

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

According to the 1997 Census of Agriculture, Ohio had 11,668 horse farms. An OSU survey estimated nearly 250,000 horses in Ohio. The large number of horses in the state has prompted many questions from producers to Extension personnel on the topic of improving forage resources. While many horse producers are proficient at equine management, they have not had formal training in forage production and management. Often, traditional agronomic programs don't target this audience. Many horse producers do not have the land mass, and/or experience to utilise large mechanical equipment for renovation and management

The Paired-Paddock Model As An Agent For Change On Grazing Properties Across Southeast Australia, J. Thompf, P. W. G. Sale, Geoffrey Saul

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

From the mid 1970s to the mid 1990s the low productivity of wool and beef producing farms in the high rainfall zone (>550 mm annual rainfall) in south east Australia has been a major contributing factor to the difficulties faced by farmers in this region. This was despite research from the Long-term Phosphate Experiment at Hamilton in south west Victoria indicating that there is considerable potential to increase the productivity and profitability of wool production (Saul, 1994). By implementing the productive pasture technology (PPT) that involves increased rates of fertiliser on pastures containing productive species and increased stocking rates …

Development Of A Toolkit For Participatory Management Of Rural Watersheds In Kenya, L. W. Chiuri, F. K. Lelo, M. W. Jenkins, S. N. Miller

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Effective public participation is a foundation for sustainable watershed management, yet there are no demonstrated methods for or examples of its achievement in tropical semi-arid rural grassland watersheds of Kenya which support critical downstream water services. Within the Sustainable Management of Watersheds (SUMAWA) multidisciplinary international research project, a set of tools has been developed and tested to engage local communities and stakeholders in a dialogue and decision-making process to improve the development and management of the River Njoro Watershed in Kenya and reverse declining water quality and quantity problems. A toolkit manual based on the experience is under preparation for …

Spatio-Temporal Scales Of Animal Grazing In Herding Systems, Hossein Barani

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

A holistic approach is needed for natural resources management and this demands understanding of the role of all the components in a system. Animal grazing is one of the most important processes in rangeland ecosystems. In rangeland utilisation in Iran, the human herder is crucial in achieving sound management. This study focused on the role of the human as a grazier (herder).

Building Decision Tools For Sustainable Grassland Management: A Case Study Of Participatory Research In La Réunion, Sophie Gerbaud, Vincent Blanfort, P. Thomas, Ph. Lecomte, J. P. Choisis

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

During the last 30 years, cattle breeding has developed in La Reunion Island (France, Indian Ocean) with strong support from local authorities and extension structures. The Union des Associations Foncières Pastorales (UAFP) initiated and still sustain a large effort on grassland improvement. During the same period, CIRAD managed different research programmes on agronomic aspects of pasture management). Scarcity of space, the volcanic soil and tropical climatic conditions contributed to repeated forage shortages during the dry season, making forage production a major issue for cattle breeders. In 1991, CIRAD launched a research programme to elaborate decision tools for assessing and improving …

Potential And Constraints For Animal Feed As An Objective Of Poor Farmers In Participatory Research With Multipurpose Forage Crops In Central-America, R. Van Der Hoek, M. Peters, V. Hoffmann

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Multipurpose forage crops can play an important role in improving the environmental and socio- economic sustainability of smallholder production systems in fragile environments. However, since the forage technology development framework has not been sufficiently applicable for poor farmers, adoption of especially legumes has been generally low (Peters et al., 2001). In a participatory research effort with smallholder farmers in Honduras focused at forage based technologies, food security turned out to be the main selection criterion whereas animal feed was secondary. Since animal feed related activities (farmer-led forage seed systems, production of dry season feed) have been identified as promising …

Improvement Of Grassland Through Community Participation In The Middle Awashvalley Of Ethiopia, Ebro Abule, Tesfa Getachew, A. Gezahegn, A. Nigatu, B. Shimeles

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The natural resources of the grassland in the middle Awash valley of Ethiopia are subjected to competing claims: development to generate revenue for the state, conservation of wildlife and wilderness areas, as well as use for local production. The combination of climatic conditions causing drought and the over use of the natural resource can be cited as the primary cause of grassland deterioration in the area. Since the problems of the grasslands are complex and multi-dimensional, they are not amenable to quick and easy fixes. Hence, if sustainable progress is to be achieved, the responsibility for change must be in …

Linking Research To Development In Pastoral Communities Of Northern Kenya: Recent Experiences And Key Findings In Participatory Research Approaches, G. A. Keya, M. Ngutu, A. Adongo, A. O. Adongo, I. Tura

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Over 50% of Kenya's land mass is arid. The mainstay of the local economies of these areas is nomadic pastoralism. Arable agriculture is limited to the few oases and mountain zones. Due to the harsh climate, there are few alternative livelihood options available to the local communities of mostly herders. Efforts to improve agricultural productivity have often been hampered by low adoption of available technologies. This low adoption is linked to many factors, notably the non-involvement of the stakeholders in the research process and the weak linkage between research and extension. To address these shortcomings, new approaches were tested with …