Author: Carol Hinton
Major Program: Forages
Producers began a few years ago taking 2-3 cuttings of hay as summer rains were very plentiful. Now we have fields that are dragging in yields, very poor stand of cool season grasses, and lacking fertilizer. After numerous meetings, numerous farm visits, we began to gather information on; soil test results, 'weed identification', loss of production and new but tried and true management practices to get back on track with hay production. The old saying repeti
Author: Morgan Hayes
Temporary and permanent electric fencing is a powerful tool for managing grazing. In 2020, working with Dr. Teutsch from the Department of Plant and Soil Science and Jeremy McGill from Gallagher Fencing, we developed a curriculum entitled “Electric Fencing for Serious Graziers”. This educational program is a combination of classroom and hands on exercises designed to provided participants with the tools needed to assist livestock producers with electric fencing. Aft
Author: Samuel Smith
The UK Horse Pasture Evaluation Program had another strong evaluation season during the summer of 2023. This program began in 2005 as part of Equine Programs to develop stronger ties with Kentucky’s horse industry. The program focuses on the following objectives:• Providing detailed pasture management recommendations to horse farm owners and managers.• Improving pastureland by increasing forage quality and quantity and reduce the need for stored feeds, such as hay and grain.&bull
University of Kentucky forage specialists have been distributing a monthly forage newsletter called Forage News for almost 50 years. This publication highlights applied research findings from the UK forage group and the USDA-ARS forage animal production research unit located on UK's campus. The focus of the publication is to provide useful information that can be applied "on-farm" by Kentucky farmers. It is distributed to over 2200 people each month through a combination of emails
University of Kentucky Forage Specialists and Associates worked with the national Alliance for Grassland Renewal to host the first ever Equine Novel Endophyte Tall Fescue Renovation workshop on January 25, 2023. This workshop included speakers from across the country. Participants included horse owners and farm managers from many states as well as extension agents. After the workshop, attendees had a much better understanding of managing existing toxic tall fescue stands and how to establish and
We can be especially proud of the successful XXV International Grassland Congress (IGC) that was recently held in Covington, KY May 14-19. I say “we” because it was definitely a team effort. This Congress would not have happened without the support of many volunteers including KY county agents, KFGC members, University personnel, AFGC Executive Director Tina Bowling, and many others. Dr. Ken Quesneberry, who is a graduate from UK and has been a forage breeder at Univ. of Florida for
Author: Christopher Teutsch
Contributors: Chris Teutsch, Jimmy Henning, Smith, Jeff Lehmkuhler, Donna Ammarl-Phillips, Katie VanValin, Morgan Hayes, A, Kevin Laurent, John Grove, Greg Halich, and Edwin Ritchey, University of Kentucky, Jeremy McGill, Gallagher Fencing, and Adam Jones, Kentucky NRCS The Kentucky Beginning Grazing School was established in 1996. This two-day workshop provides new livestock producers with critical skills needed for designing and implementing a rotational grazing system. It con
Contributors: Chris Teutsch, Morgan Hayes, and Joshua Jackson, University of Kentucky Implementing improved grazing management requires high quality fencing. Working with the Kentucky Forage and Grassland Council and private industry representatives, we designed and implemented the Kentucky Fencing School in 2018. In this reporting period, we held four fencing schools with than 120 total participants. These programs focused on the proper installation of modern fencing tech
Author: Jimmy Henning
UK Specialist/Agent/Industry Partnership Results in successful hay day at the Robinson Center for Appalachian Resource Sustainability: Improving Hay quality for the producer and consumer in Eastern KentuckyUK Personnel Involved: Jimmy Henning, Bob Coleman, Jessica Morris, Reed Graham, Charles May, Sarah Fanin, Paul Sizemore, Wade Turner, Daniel WilsonProducing high quality hay has been a priority of many hay and livestock producers in Eastern Kentucky for over two decades as a result of the succ
Online Forages Training for Small Ruminant Producers goes live in late 2022.Specialists involved: Jimmy Henning, Ray Smith, Chris TeutschSheep and goats comprise a small but growing and profitable enterprise in Kentucky. The Kentucky Sheep and Goat Association and the UKY forages group cooperated to produce an online course for small ruminant producers to be a part of the Master Small Ruminant Producer series. New videos and publications were developed to comprise a comprehensive forage course f
Conferences on Grazing and Alfalfa meet producer needsSpecialists involved: Jimmy Henning, Ray Smith, Chris TeutschProducer leadership of the Kentucky Forage and Grassland Council identified high priority educational needs in grazing and in alfalfa and stored feed production for Kentucky. UKY forage specialists used these priorities to create and implement educational programs in the fall and winter of 2022-2023 to meet producer needs. These programs featured a diverse group of speakers from the
Agent-Specialist project presents at International ConferenceUK Baleage Research Increases ProfitabilitySpecialists and Agents Involved: Jimmy Henning, Jeff Lehmkuhler, Brandon Sears, Don Sorrell, Corinne Belton, Levi Berg, April WilhoitRound bale silage (baleage) is high moisture forage that is baled and wrapping in plastic so that it undergoes anaerobic fermentation. This practice is very beneficial to forage-livestock producers because it allows forage to be cut at more optimum stages of matu
Fescue eradication and improved management increases profits for Central Kentucky Thoroughbred FarmSpecialists Involved: Jimmy Henning, Ray Smith and Krista LeaA central Kentucky thoroughbred horse farm experienced a high incidence of fescue toxicosis symptoms in pregnant and foaling mares during early 2017. The UK Plant and Soil Science Forage Group was contacted by the farm at the advice of the consulting veterinarian. After a farm visit, the farm agreed to a program of pasture evaluation. Fie
Specialists Involved: Jimmy Henning, Chris Teutsch, Jeff Lehmkulher, Bob Coleman and Ken Andries (Morehead State University).The Eastern Kentucky Hay Contest (EKHC) is a cooperative effort between the county agents in Eastern and Southeastern Kentucky and local cattlemen’s associations and the University of Kentucky faculty specialists in animal science, plant and soil science and also specialists from Kentucky State University. The contest began 28 years ago involving three counties and h
Contribuors: Chris Teutsch and Morgan Hayes, University of Kentucky, and Jeremy McGill, Gallagher Electric fencing is a powerful tool for managing grazing. In 2023, working with Dr. Hayes from the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, T.J Adkins from Pulaski County Extension, and Jeremy McGill from Gallagher Fencing, we held a hands-on Electric Fencing School on a farm near Nancy, KY. After presentations on electric fencing theory and installation, students head
Contributors: Chris Teutsch, Jimmy Henning, and Ray Smith Livestock producers in Kentucky face both short- and long-term change as weather patterns shift and markets fluctuate. Realizing this, we designed a conference focusing on the profitability of grazing systems from the soil up. Topics included an introduction to soil health, myths that impact profitability, right sizing cows, novel strategies for building soil fertility, and reducing hay feeding in grazing systems. This conferen
Contributors: Chris Teutsch, Ray Smith, and Jimmy HenningIn 2017, we established the KYForages YouTube Channel. The impact of this endeavor continues to grow. Our subscribers have almost tripled in the past four years to over 4,100. In this reporting period, content from this channel has been viewed more 191,000 times with an average watch time of just over 13 minutes resulting in a total watch time that exceeds 2.5 million minutes. The United States and Canada make up 79
Author: Brandon Sears
Kentucky has long been recognized as a leader in forage production across the United States and the World. Being located in the transition zone between north and south adaptation areas enables many species of forage plants to be produced here. The University of Kentucky has a well-established history of innovation in the forage industry including Extension outreach and plant breeding programs that yield new and improved varieties across a host of forage species important to the livestock industr
