Author: Christan Miracle
Planning Unit: Marion County CES
Major Program: Forages
Plan of Work: Improving Profitability and Sustainability of Livestock and Crop Production
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
Forages are one of the most important aspects of many types of farms. Whether the farm produces livestock such as beef cattle, sheep, or horse, or the farm is used for sod production, the forages are at the limited factor of profit. In the winter of 2020 a tri-county educational series was implemented called Master Haymaker. In this 6 part series specialists from the University of KY forage department as well as guest speakers presented their knowledge to a diverse group of farmers. One reason this group was so diverse is the difference between each farmer’s production goals on their farms. Some were interested in the program because they produce and sell hay. Some were interested because they have implement rotational grazing and want the highest gain possible off each acre. Others are running a cow/calf operation and need a good mixture of pasture to graze and hay to use for winter feeding. No matter the goal, the speakers did an excellent job of reaching each farmer. The group consisted of 36 males and 2 females from 3 counties. We also had 3 agents, 1 guest speaker, and 5 specialists join for program. Topics such as warm and cool season grasses, weed ID and control, soil fertility, equipment, storage, and balage/haylage were all covered in each respective session. The program was cut short due to COVID-19 but we plan to finish the last 2 sessions a later date. Farmers were able to use the knowledge gained from these sessions on their own farm before the hay and grazing seasons started this spring.
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