Warm Season Grass Professional Workshop

The American Forage and Grassland Council is pleased to host the Warm Season Grass Professional Workshop August 18, 2015 in Lexington, KY. This workshop is modeled after the successful Cool Season Grass Workshop that has been help around the U.S. for the last 7 years. The goal is to provide advanced training to seed industry personnel, consultants, county agents and others on production issues and new developments within warm season grasses grown in the United States. This first workshop will primarily focus on warm season annual grasses and include topics on genetics, seed quality, establishment, management, beef and dairy production, testing for anti-quality components, and variety selection. The overall goal of the workshop will be to bring participants to the next level of training on these and other relevant topics. Attendance at the workshop will qualify for Certified Crop Advisor CEU's and Certified Forage and Grassland Professional (CFGP) continuing education credits. Registration for the workshop is now available on the AFGC website (www.afgc.org) by clicking here. Cost for the workshop is $175.00.

Agenda for AFGC Warm Season Grass Professional Workshop

August 18, 2015

7:30am to 5:30pm

Lexington, KY

  • Genetics of the BMR Trait within the Sorghum genus Ray Smith, Univ. of Kentucky
  • Seed Quality and Seed Industry priorities for warm season annual grasses Chad Hale, Byron Seeds
  • Determining the best variety (quality and yield) of Warm Season Annuals Chris Teutsch, Virginia Tech
  • Beef Cattle performance with warm season annuals Jeff Lehmkuhler, Univ. of Kentucky
  • Dairy Cattle performance with warm season annuals Chad Hale, Byron Seeds
  • Agronomic practices to maximize yield, quality and regrowth of warm season annuals Dennis Hancock, Univ. of Georgia
  • Simple on-farm tests for nitrate and cyanide toxicity Ray Smith, Univ. of Kentucky
  • Minor use summer annual grasses: Teff, Crabgrass, German millet, and others Panel Discussion, All speakers, led by Dennis Hancock, Univ. of Georgia
  • How I've integrated Corn grazing into my forage system Kentucky Beef producer
  • Bermudagrass production and emerging issues (ie -stem maggot) Dennis Hancock, Univ. of Georgia
  • What is the role of warm season native grasses on beef cattle farms? Tom Keene, Univ. of Kentucky
  • Field tour of Warm Season annual grass variety tests and Agronomic Demonstrations Gene Olson, Univ. of Kentucky

Pre-conference Evening Session August 17 Development of a rating system on the yield potential, digestibility, regrowth potential, grazing tolerance, leafspot resistance, etc. for varieties of sorghum x sudangrass, sudangrass, pearl millet, and forage sorghum. Workshop speakers and others interested are invited to attend.

Speakers include: Dr. Dennis W Hancock, Forage Extension Specialist, Univ. of Georgia, dhancock@uga.edu; Dr. Chris Teutsch, Forage Research and Extension, Virginia Tech, cteutsch@vt.edu; Dr. Jeff Lehmkuhler, Beef Extension Specialist, Univ. of Kentucky, jeff.lehmkuhler@uky.edu; Chad Hale, Research Leader, Byron Seeds, chad@westernforage.com; Gene Olson, Forage Variety Testing Coordinator, Univ. of Kentucky, glolso2@uky.edu; Dr. Ray Smith, Forage Extension Specialist, Univ. of Kentucky, raysmith1@uky.edu; Tom Keene, Research Agronomist, Univ. of Kentucky, tom.keene@uky.edu.