The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service will host its annual grazing school Sept. 21-22 in Perry, GA. It will focus on soil fertility, forage-crop establishment, plant growth, animal nutrient requirements and management-intensive grazing.
Training will take place in classroom and field settings. Multiple classroom lectures addressing plant and grazing management will be combined with local farm visits to nearby grazing operations.
The cost is $150 and includes lunches, breaks, a grazing-school handbook, a forage and weed identification handbook and a copy of Southern Forages.
Topics to be covered in the classroom include: forage yield, distribution and quality; soil fertility and nutrient cycling; using organic and alternative fertilizer sources;weed control and management strategies; managing surplus forage; supplementing pasture-based nutrition; manipulating forage growth and animal behavior; grazing systems, methods and design; fencing, water and shade system considerations; pasture condition scoring; and economics of managed grazing systems.
Topics addressed on two nearby managed-grazing farms will include: electric fence system design; in-pasture cooling systems; pasture composition and scoring; and estimating available forage.
Registration is required because of limited space. Click here to visit the Web-based registration system.