Building Deeper Connections: Advanced Regenerative Grazing Training For Agriculture Advisors in Eastern Illinois

Two 1.5-hour online workshops were held in April 2022 covering regenerative grazing marketing and profitability. The workshops detailed the economic opportunities regenerative grazing brings to the landscape, both at the farm-level, but also explaining the watershed-level impacts. Offering a marketing and profitability intensive workshop online prior to the on-farm workshops provided participants the opportunity to consider the various components of regenerative grazing through an economic lens.

The EGP held two summer field days at the Burnt Hill Cattle Co., LLC in Hamilton County, Illinois, focused on teaching and demonstrating the principles behind regeneratively grazing livestock. The field days will include discussion around grazing cattle, sheep, pigs, and chickens.

On Monday, June 27, EGP held two half-day sessions at the Burnt Hill Cattle Co., LLC from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT. The morning session focused on assessing forage health and diversity, led by Ed Ballard, Grazing Consultant. Lunch was provided to attendees. In the afternoon, Matt Bunger, State Grazing Lands Specialist with NRCS in Illinois, and Grant Bauman of Bauman Family Farms, led a session on the design of permanent fencing and water structures.

On Tuesday, June 28, two more half-day sessions took place at the Burnt Hill Cattle Co., LLC from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT, following a similar format to the first day. In the morning, participants learned from Trevor Toland, owner and operator of Toland’s River Oak Ranch, about designing and setting up a paddock. Following lunch, the host farmer, Logan Karcher of Burnt Hill, led a session on multi-species grazing and how they manage cattle, sheep, and pigs on their own operation utilizing regenerative grazing techniques.

The Embarras Grazing Partnership is offering 6 live, virtual office hours (a less formal version of a webinar) with experts focused on different aspects of regenerative grazing. Each session will be hosted on the online community of practice platform, REGAIN. All office hours were/are recorded and posted to the CCSWCD YouTube playlist. Two of the six sessions were held before 2023. The rest of the four will be included in the final report.

For our first session (Dec 6, 2022), Dr. Nick Minton, Beef Systems Specialist at Purdue University, discussed energy levels in livestock and grass during winter and how to manage your pasture for nutrition and economics. 

In the second session (Dec 13, 2022), Jim Isermann, grazer and Soil Health Specialist with the Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership, and Greg Thoren, grazer, discussed tips and benefits associated with grazing cover crops and residue.

During the third session (Jan. 10, 2023), Travis Meteer, Beef Commercial Agriculture Educator at Illinois Extension, discussed breed and cattle selection considerations for grazing, alongside Evan Schuette, grazer.

In the fourth session (Feb. 14,2023), Dr. Teresa Steckler, Commercial Agriculture Educator and producer of various meat goat breeds discussed parasite management and herd health on pasture.

In the fifth session (March 14, 223), Brett Mathews of Dividing Ridge Farm led a troubleshooting scenario on managing grazing livestock during drought conditions.

Our sixth and final session (April 11, 2023), Travis Hood, Sales Representative with This Old Farm Inc. and Joseph Fisher of Fisher Farms, shared their knowledge and experiences with grazing and value chain development.

The EGP held two winter field days at the Montgomery County Extension office and Hand Farms in Filmore Illinois, focusing on winter management of regenerative grazing. Each day started with a half day classroom session, followed by a visit to Hand Farms to view the practices discussed in the morning session. The field days included discussion of winter cover-crop grazing, herd health management, winter feed and water station design, and resources for grazers. All attendees were given complimentary buckets with tools and educational materials. Each 5 gallon bucket contained various guides for maintaining soil health and forage quality, tools for measuring forage height, soil sampling tools, and fencing supplies like pliers and gloves.

On Tuesday, March 7, EGP held two morning sessions at the Montgomery County Extension office and one afternoon session at Hand Farms from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT. The first morning session focused on grazing cover crops through the winter, led by Cliff Schuette, Schuette Seeds. The second morning session, featuring Jamie Jones, Outreach Coordinator Illinois NRCS/USDA, discussed the various services and programs offered to grazers by NRCS. Lunch was provided to attendees. In the afternoon, attendees, speakers, and host farmers traveled to Hand Farms for on farm examples of cover crop grazing, watering stations, and cattle movement.

On Wednesday, March 8, three more sessions took place at the Montgomery County Extension office and Hand Farms from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT, following the same format as the previous day. In the first session Laura Paine, Outreach Coordinator for Grassland 2.0, presented on outwintering cattle and strategies for bale grazing. The second morning session discussed engineering concerns and addressing trouble spots with Matt Bunger, State Grazing Lands Specialist with NRCS in Illinois. Lunch was provided to the attendees. In the afternoon, attendees, speakers, and the host farmers again traveled to Hand Farms for demonstrations on herd health evaluation, pasture evaluations, and other winter management strategies.