Five years ago, a local producer requested help to offer suggestions for his beef operation.  He was very dissatisfied with how his herd was performing and the expense and management of the herd was taking more time and money than what he wanted.  

After evaluating the herd, it was determined that reproduction left unmanaged was the main problem and it was suggested to enroll the herd into the East KY Integrated Reproductive Management Program.  After one year under this protocol, The calving season was reduced from 342 days to 55 days.  This allowed for easier management of the whole group with nutrition and health, and could allow the use of Artificial Insemination to start improving the genetics.  

Still, there was the dissatisfaction of winter feeding, mud, and hay expense.  So a rotational grazing and fall stockpiling of fescue was recommended.  Now the cows are harvesting their own feed, on pastures with limited mud, and much healthier and more productive.  

With great success in both the reproductive changes and forage management of his herd, this producer was encouraged to tell his story at the KY Grazing Conference held in Oct. at the Clark County Extension Office.  This was the competition for the KY Forage Spokesperson and he won the contest.  He went on to share this same story at the American Forage and Grassland Council annual meeting and contest and he won the national contest.  Probably the most impressive part of this story is that he is usually a very private person and getting up in front of a crowd is not something he would normally do.  He did an amazing job sharing his story and we are all very proud of his success.