Tag: NRCS

Thanks to the folks with NRCS’s “Unlock the Secrets of Soil Health” for their part in developing this article. The abandoned cotton farm Terry and Deborah Chandler purchased was in need of a lot of care. The fields were  highly eroded, and the top soil was absent. Rebuilding soil health was the first thing on […]

“With rotational grazing, what really turned me onto it and got me into it was, honestly, the economic value of it, obviously in dollar signs. I was thinking, “Oh, if we do rotational grazing I automatically should be able to put so many more pairs on a piece of pasture. That’s true to a certain […]

Ranchers on the tallgrass prairie traditionally burn their pastures each spring before summer grazing. After fire, plants grow more quickly, and the new growth is very nutritious. But the practice is problematic for migratory birds. It reduces nesting and feeding habitat just when they need it most. So, how can ranchers balance getting great forage […]

Shortly after I joined the NRCS about twelve years ago, a retired NRCS Grazing Specialist by the name of Steve Hibinger was assigned to me to “show me the ropes.” One of the things he taught me about grazing in Ohio thas stuck with me all this time. If I could teach it to every […]

Tim Tobin started planting annuals for two reasons. First, he wanted to transition some crop fields to perennial pastures and annuals were a good first step. He also wanted to smother out the Kentucky 31 fescue in some of his pastures. He liked the results so much, that it looks like annuals will become a […]

http://forages.ca.uky.edu/event/western-kentucky-equine-field-day 3:30 – Registration 4:00 – Exhibitor Booths 5:00 – Welcome, Dinner provided by the Caldwell County Extension Office 5:30 – Weber’s Retired Horses, LLC Overview, Rob and Kim Weber, owners 5:45 – Utilizing Cost Share on Horse Farms, Adam Jones, NRCS 6:00 – 8:00 – Educational Sessions, concurrently every half hour: • Feeding from […]

“What CSP has done for us, it has allowed us to explore better options and produce a better product. it gives you a little more financial freedom to do things, things that you dream up and say ‘Gees, I wish we could do this, but money wise you just can’t’. It’s given us more freedom […]

Thanks to Heather Emmons of the Natural Resources Conservation Service for this story of how to get water where livestock need it. (It comes to us from the  Conservation Roadtrip and you can see it in it’s original form here.) It can give you an idea of how you might work with the NRCS on […]

The 2018 event will feature the latest information from renowned presenters and exhibitors, best management practices and field tours showcasing the progressive use of native grasses and forbs in a host of diverse applications. It all takes place at Erie’s beautiful Bayfront Convention Center on the shores of Lake Erie.

If you farm within the sprawling Chesapeake Bay Watershed or other sensitive watersheds around the country, there is a better than even chance, you’ve heard about USDA Riparian Forest Buffer Programs. These initiatives supported by the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership are actively working, in earnest, to take whatever strategies or financial measures possible, to […]

Rickie Roddy knew he was going to be a rancher early on. To get started, he saved up his money, and bought his first cow at the age of 13. “My dreams are coming true,” he says. “A 13-year old, you have big dreams. But a 13-year-old getting a cow, that was a big step […]

Current federal regulations recommending that rangelands be rested from grazing for two seasons after fire are not supported by science. In fact, the research shows that healthy prairie ecosystems require grazing and fire. When tested on the ground, evidence shows that moderate post-fire grazing causes few impacts on northern mixed-grass prairie vegetation. That’s the conclusion […]

The committees responsible for deciding how the budget is divided to assist farmers and ranchers are meeting now and they’re wondering if you really need on farm/ranch visits or personal assistance from NRCS staffs. What do you think?