Livestock In Nature: Best Practices For Animal And Ecosystem Health

This conference will provide you with practical information to help you enhance species diversity in your pasture and improve ecosystem function to benefit herd health and productivity on your farm.

Details

Thursday, February 5th
9 am to 5 pm
Registration and cost information: www.pasafarming.org
The Penn Stater Conference Center, 215 Innovation Boulevard State College, PA 16803

Topics:

• Livestock in the Ecosystem Impacts & Dynamics
• Treed Grazing in Whole Farm Design
• Using Livestock to Manage Invasives & Regenerations Plans
• Managing Livestock for Healthy Ecosystems
• Keeping Animals In, Pests & Diseases Out
• Cultivating Forage Species Diversity

Funds for this program provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (PA DCNR) & Pennsylvania Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative
Presenters:

• Brett Chedzoy is a Forester with Cornell Cooperative Extension, and also the operator of Angus Glen Farms, LLC. Brett has 20 years of experience with silvopasturing, and uses this agroforestry system extensively on his family's ranches in Argentina and New York. Over the past six years, Brett has given an estimated 30 talks on silvopasturing to over 2,000 people. He has also authored a number of documents on this topic, and moderates Cornell's silvopasture forum.

• Norm Conrad is an ag program specialist and regional director for the National Center for Appropriate Technology. Prior to joining NCAT he worked as an extension specialist. He lives in neighboring Mifflinburg and has dealt with vertebrate pest problems on his farm ranging from black bears to foxes to raptors and will share his knowledge and experiences.

• Darrell Emmick began his career in grassland agriculture in 1980 by accepting a position as Pasture Research Manager at the Cornell University Hillside Pasture Research and Demonstration Project in Harford, NY. In 1983 he went to work for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), where he, through cooperative agreement with Cornell, continued to manage the pasture research project until 1993. Darrell served 26 years as the NRCS NY State Grazing Land Management Specialist until he retired in 2010.

• Lamonte Garber has worked for over 25 years in agricultural water quality protection and natural habitat restoration. As Stroud’s Watershed Restoration Coordinator, he coordinates landowner relations and the implementation of agricultural and watershed restoration projects. Prior to his work at Stroud, Lamonte held positions at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, and the Environmental Quality Initiative. He lives in Lancaster, PA with his wife Marcella and two daughters, Madeline and Maia.

• Sandra Miller has been using goats as a means for managing brush and invasive species, enhancing view sheds, clearing building sites and restoring habitats for fifteen years. Her stock have been employed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary as well as by private individuals and companies. She sells goat meat at regional farmers markets and to chef owned restaurants specializing in whole carcass cooking. She is a lifetime member and former board member of PASA.

• John Hopkins and wife Todd run Forks Farm and Forks Farm Market in Columbia County, Pennsylvania where they raise, graze, process and market 100% grass fed beef and lamb, woodlot pork and pastured poultry. They direct market all of their pastured products through custom orders, retail sales, buying clubs and farmer's markets. In addition to being a grazer, John is a professional forester and arborist and combines his interests in grazing and forestry by developing silvopasture at Forks Farm and using the unique abilities of grazing animals to prepare and maintain open and woodland pastures.

• Benjamin Tracy is an Associate Professor of Grassland Ecosystem Management in the Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech. Dr. Tracy’s research involves improving the scientific understanding about the role of plant diversity in agricultural systems and its influence on productivity and environmental quality. He has authored or coauthored over 130 publications. Current research projects include use of native warm season grasses in grazing systems, orchard grass persistence in the Mid-Atlantic region and impacts of mob grazing on grassland ecosystem function.

Source:psu.edu