Sharing Soil Health Knowledge and Practice through Grazing Networks

Sharing Soil Health Knowledge and Practice through Grazing Networks

Summary

This project is working at statewide and local levels to bring together local learning teams of agency staff, grazing network coordinators, and livestock farmers for mutual education on managing cropland and pastures for improved soil health. GrassWorks is a statewide farmer organization that established a soil health education program in 2014. This project is extending that program and delivering educational content to agency staff through Wisconsin’s four Resource Conservation and Development Councils (RC&D) that sponsor grazing networks. This NRC SARE funding provides support for those networks to engage local USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), County Land Conservation (LCD), and University of Wisconsin-Extension (UWEX) staff over two years in a co-learning project on pasture soil health.  This project is using NRCS and LCD soil science expertise, building on NRCS’s current soil health initiative. UWEX adult education expertise and network coordinator grazing expertise is also contributing to this locally-based, mutual professional development effort.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Project objectives include: 1) engaging local agency staff in delivering pasture soil health education through grazing network activities, 2) recruiting local agency staff to support ongoing grazing network activities, and 3) providing statewide coordination of the project to establish a stronger, durable relationship between GrassWorks and local grazing networks. Activities include training of network coordinators and agency staff on pasture soil health, collaboration among local staff on at least two pasture walks or workshops on soil health in each of the four RC&D areas, and creation of a grazing network coordinator toolkit. This project is successfully fostering collaboration among local participants through mutual learning on the soil health benefits of well-managed pasture.

Accomplishments/Milestones

October 1 – December 31, 2015

• Initial meeting of GrassWorks, the five RC&D grazing network coordinators, and agency

Conference call for kick-off meeting, December 7, 2015.  All project team members participated.

January 1 – March 31, 2016

• Network coordinators solicit participation in the project (soil health teams).

Project introduction letter was prepared for network coordinators to send to partners.  Network coordinators are soliciting more partnership and working with partners they’ve established.  Workshops and pasture walks were organized.  Network coordinators mailed project introduction letter to NRCS, LCD & UWEX Staff in their regions & continued soliciting partnership and working with partners they’ve established. 

• Begin developing pasture soil health educational

UWEX was not willing to share the Extension Conservation Professional Training Program information as originally thought.  At January 15^th meeting group decided to move forward without UWEX materials & laid out what deliverables would be prepared.  Materials prepared & will be redistributed mid -March.  Second Quarter 2016 Pasture Soil Health Workshop was organized & will be held on May 9, 2016 in Stevens Point.  Morning classroom session – afternoon field session at Bill Kolodziej’s farm. 

• Begin work on network coordinators

Coordinator toolkit pieces were assembled & will be share during the Second Quarter 2016 check-in meeting.

• Develop evaluation tools.

Evaluation materials were collected & combined.  Evaluation tools will be finalized at the Second Quarter 2016 check in meeting (April).

• Quarterly check-in among partners (conference call or face-to-face).

Face-to-face meeting, January 15, 2016, during GrassWorks Grazing Conference.  Seven team members participated.

• Quarterly report on project to GrassWorks board.

Quarterly report was submitted to the GrassWorks Board.

• Additional activities completed that were not listed in the original plan of work:
• River Country RC&D hosted the Trempealeau County Soil Health Field Day with partners on March 30^th. Presentations were video-taped to be shared with PCC-TV and can be aired by stations around the state.
• Glacierland RC&D NE Region hosted a Winter Pasture Soil Health Workshop on March 1, 2016 in Sheboygan Falls, WI. Agency partners included:  NRCS and Conservation staff.   Soil health presenters included Justin Morris & Ray Archuleta, NRCS.  Attendees included:  7 agency staff and 42 farmers.    
• Glacierland RC&D SE Region co-hosted a Winter Pasture Soil Health Workshop on March 16, 2016 in Whitewater, WI. Agency partners included:  UW Extension staff from 3 counties; NRCS Area Resources Soil Scientist; UW Madison Soil Scientist & Research Agronomist at the USDA-ARS U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center.  Attendees included:  6 agency staff & 23 farmers.  
• Southwest Badger RC&D Grazing Educator compiled soil health profiles for the toolkit: beginning farmer and high density rotational grazing and reviewed them with farmers profiled and the Project Coordinator.
• Project coordinator completed interviews with SARE Staff.

April 1-June 30, 2016

• Local soil health teams organize summer pasture walks(s).

Network Coordinators organized summer pasture walks and forwarded announcements to be posted on GrassWorks Web page.

• Complete development of educational content for soil health program.

Completed Pasture Soil Health educational content

• Conduct statewide pasture soil health workshop for participating agency staff

Project team hosted the State Wide Pasture Soil Health Workshop, May 9^th in Stevens Point.  Workshop included morning classroom & afternoon field sessions.  Attendees:  52 classroom & 67 field- range of Agency from NRCS, LCD, UWEX, WDNR & NWF & farmers.  Speakers were fantastic, food was delicious & weather was perfect.  Presentations were video-taped to be shared with PCC-TV.

• Continue work on network coordinators

Continued work on network coordinators toolkit and finalized initial project evaluation form.

• Quarterly check-in among

Conference call, April 22, 2016.  Nine of the ten active partner members participated.

• Quarterly report to GrassWorks

Report was submitted to GrassWorks Board on May 10^th.

• Additional activities completed that were not listed in the original plan of work:

• Project coordinator prepared articles for Graze Magazine.
• River Country RC&D hosted a Soil Health Pasture Walk with John Sippl at Brad and Melissa Larson Farm, Dunn County, May.
• River Country RC&D hosted a Soil Health Pasture Walk at Jerry and Shirley Wagner Farm. This was a follow up walk from the West Central WI Grazing Conference, June.
• River Country RC&D also provided assistance :

• Trempealeau County UWEX – mailing grazing information to Coulee area graziers
• Jackson County – mailing grazing information to Coulee area graziers
• Together Farm – Promotion of on-farm demonstration for linear scoring of cattle
• Eau Claire County UWEX – grazing materials and microphone system

• Direct farmer education with grazing materials at pasture walk
• Glacierland RC&D NE Region hosted a Soil Health Workshop followed by a pasture walk on May 19, 2016 in Random Lake, WI. Agency partners included:  NRCS; Sheboygan & Brown County Land and Water Staff and Conservation staff form various organizations.   Soil health presenters included Justin Morris, NRCS.  Attendees included:  6 agency staff and 27 farmers.
• Glacierland RC&D NE Region hosted a soil health pasture walk at Lloyd Peterscheim Organic Dairy Farm, 1936 Collins Marsh Road, Reedsville, WI 54230, June 1, 2016 (17 attendees).
• Glacierland RC&D NE Region hosted a soil health pasture walk at Golden Bear Farm, 15115 Lax Chapel Road, Kiel, WI, 53042, June 1, 2016 (33 attendees).
• Glacierland RC&D NE Region hosted a Twilight Walk at Brandenburg Acres, 6754 County Road W, Greenleaf, WI 54126, June 15, 2016 (12 attendees). 
• Glacierland RC&D NE Region hosted a Soil Health Pasture walk at the Rick Fischer Farm, Seymour, WI on June 15. Mark Kopecky, Soils Agronomist for Organic Valley, led the soil health discussions.  Attendees included:  4 agency staff and 44 farmers.
• Glacierland RC&D SE Region hosted a Pasture Soil Health walk for the Jefferson FFA on May 16. Attendees included 2 agency staff and 14 students.
• Glacierland RC&D SE Region co-hosted a pasture walk at the Arndt Angus, LLC Farm, Beloit, WI on June 14^. Agency partners included UW Extension staff from Rock, Walworth and Racine counties.  Attendees included 3 agency staff and 12 farmers.

July 1-September 30, 2016

• Local soil health teams carry out pasture walk in each of the five RC&D territories, including

River Country RC&D hosted pasture walks as summarized below:

• July – Louis and Jane Sonnentag- Organic Dairy and On Farm Energy Audits, Bloomer Wisconsin, River Country RCD Pasture Walk. Jane and Family operate a grazing dairy farm. They have recently participated in an on-farm energy audit, NRCS will discuss available programs and Al Bohl, Advisor to Focus on Energy – Schools, Government and Agriculture Programs, will be in attendance to discuss the On-Farm Audit process and potential savings for your farm business.
• August – Dan Pearson- Organic Valley, CSP educational event with St Croix County NRCS. River Falls, Wisconsin, Organic Valley Pasture Walk. Pasture walk led by Mark Kopecky, Organic Valley Soils Agronomist. We’ll explore organic grass milk production and high-energy forages & pastures.
• August – Bob and Pam Keil- Direct Market Beef and Sheep Grazing. Glennwood City, Wisconsin, River Country RCD Walk. Bob, a retired electrical engineer, and his wife, Pam, have always had a passion for organic farming and a vision for providing healthy food through good land stewardship. Raven Croft Farm is a 140 acre organic certified farm nestled in the hills of western Wisconsin that produce beef, lamb, eggs and oats. They have been using intensive grazing to build soils and grow high quality meat products.
• September – Randy and Liz Mittag- Farm Layout and Building the Grazing System, River Falls Wisconsin, River Country RCD Pasture Walk. Randy and Liz are proud to invite you to their new farm purchased in April, 2016. They have established an intensive grazing operation for their registered polled Hereford cow calf herd on land that was previously corn, soybeans and hay. They have worked with Pierce County NRCS to help offset some of their startup costs while establishing pastureland with seeding, perimeter fences, and a water system.

All walk announcements were sent to the UWEX, Divisions of Land Management and Zoning (County Land Conservation Departments) and the NRCS offices in the 12 County River Country Area.

Grazing Educator also provided assistance to:

• Trempealeau County UWEX – mailing grazing information to Coulee area graziers
• Jackson County – mailing grazing information to Coulee area graziers
• Direct farmer education with grazing materials at pasture walks

Southwest Badger RC&D has completed the following work:

Grazing Educator networked with partners (UWEX and LCD Staff, US Fish and Wildlife and NRCS Staff) for an upcoming pasture walk scheduled for October 11, 2016. Grazing Educator coordinated with agency partners to develop press release, plan the event agenda, and coordinate event logistics.

Glacierland RC&D hosted pasture walks as summarized below:

• Glacierland RC&D NE Region hosted a soil health pasture walk at Gene & Tim Bonhoff’s grazing dairy farm, W6115 HWY U, Plymouth, WI 53073, September 7, 2016 (13 attendees).
• Glacierland RC&D NE Region hosted a Twilight Beef Grazing Pasture Walk, Higher Ground Ranch, W5807 Sumac Road, Plymouth, WI 53070 September 7, 2016 (20 attendees).
• Glacierland RC&D NE Region hosted a Pasture Soil Health Workshop at Waseda Farms, Bailys Harbor, WI on September 13. Karl Delafield, Dan Olson, Ben Bartlet & Chris Schue led the discussions on how cover cropping and perineal pastures have increased soil health.  Door County Land and Water conservation staff and NRCS staff help significantly in the project coordination.  Agency partners included Land Conservation staff from Door, Brown, Manitowoc, and Kewaunee Counties and NRCS staff from Door & Kewaunee counties.  (Attendees included:  11 agency staff and 51 farmers).  Project Coordinator attended.
• Glacierland RC&D SE Region co-hosted a Women Caring for the Land workshop at Brattset Family Farm, Jefferson on August 25. Agency Partners included UW Extension Walworth County & NRCS Racine/Kenosha Counties.  Additional partners included WI Farmers Union, Women Caring for the Land, and Drumlin Area Land Trust.  (Attendees included 5 agency staff and 21 farmers).  Project coordinator attended.
• Glacierland RC&D NE & SE Region networked with agency partners at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Milwaukee River Basin TMDL – Agricultural Sector Team Meeting on September 29, 2016 (16 attendees).

Golden Sands RC&D has completed the following work

Networked with agency partners.  Added soil health tool kit information to standard grazing plan to share with network coordinators.

• Continue work on network coordinators

Continued work on network coordinators toolkit

• Quarterly check-in among
• Project coordinator checked in with all partners individual. Group meeting rescheduled for 4^th quarter due to conflicts in scheduling group meeting.
• Quarterly report to GrassWorks

Quarterly report prepared September 26^th

• Additional activities completed that were not listed in the original plan of work:
• Project Coordinator and several of the partners assisted with and attended the GrassWorks Annual Picnic at Heidel Organic Dairy Farm, W6174 County Road SS, Random Lake, WI 53074, July 14, 2016 (52 attendees).
• Project Coordinator attended the farm tour at the Cates Family Farm “Celebrate Wisconsin Conservation Farming with Gulf Fishermen” field day, September 23, Spring Green, WI.

October 1-December 31, 2016

• Evaluation of first year

Project work completed during the first year was evaluated as a group during the December 13^th conference call meeting.

• Complete and submit annual report

Quarterly report to the GrassWorks Board.

• Team completes grazing network toolkit

Grazing Network Toolkit was again discussed and will be finalized at the first quarter 2017 meeting.

• Check-in among partners, assess progress and beginning planning for second year, adjust soil health educational materials.

Conference call, December 13, 2016, 7 team members participated.  Assessed the progress of the first year and began planning for the second year.  Soil health materials were adjusted to be incorporated in grazing plans.  These materials will be reviewed and finalized at the first quarter 2017 meeting.

• Network coordinators solicit additional local agency staff to participate in the pasture soil health educational program.

Network coordinators solicited additional local agency staff to participate in the pasture soil health educational program.  Detailed information for coordinators listed below.

• Local soil health teams meet to plan for year two.

Network coordinators worked with local soil health teams.  Detailed information for coordinators listed below.

• Quarterly report to GrassWorks board.

Fourth quarter report completed January 2017.

            River Country RC&D has completed the following work:

• Final editing and Production of the “Why Graze?” DVD, distributed to each state via the Nat GLC Coalition
• Provided assistance to Trempealeau County UWEX – emailing winter meeting event schedule to River Country Network.
• Direct farmer education with grazing materials to those who have made email or phone contacts looking for additional grazing information.

Southwest Badger RC&D completed the following work:

• Hosted a Soil Health Pasture Walk, Gene Schrieffer Farm, Dodgeville, October 11, 2016. Soil health education included a rainfall simulator trailer and a deep test pit.  The wonderful event attracted 44 attendees including at least 8 agency staff. Partners included Iowa County UW Extension, and Sauk County Land and Water staff as well as the UWEX state soil specialist.  Evaluations were collected and shared with partners.  Lots of interest in cover crops and renting a no-till drill for next steps.  Project Coordinator attended.
• Grazing Educator followed-up via phone and email with 6 of the farmers who expressed interest in grazing through the October 11, pasture walk evaluation.
• Grazing Educator worked with partners and drafted an application to the National Wildlife Foundation’s Cover Crop Champions grant program.

Glacierland RC&D completed the following work:

• Met & networked with partners from Door, Washington, Ozaukee, Fond du lac, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Dane, Jefferson and Racine counties from NRCS, Land & Water and UWEX.
• Coordinated with partners for 2017 soil health pasture walks.

Golden Sands RC&D has completed the following work:

Fine-tuned soil health tool kit information to standard grazing plan to share with network coordinators

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

This project is raising awareness of the soil health benefits of well-managed pastures among local agency staff and grazing network coordinators, resulting in increased awareness among the livestock farmers they serve. Intermediate outcomes include increased knowledge among local agency staff of the role of pasture and perennial grassland cover in improving soil health and how to manage grazing to maximize these benefits through an understanding of advanced pasture management practices.

Bringing together state-level soils and grazing specialists from several agencies with others knowledgeable in grazing management and soil health to develop the curriculum is resulting in an integration and shared understanding of these topics providing a clear, consistent message across agencies when pasture soil health information is shared with producers.

Delivering the soil health information through a grazing network structure is creating experiential learning opportunities among grant-funded grazing network coordinators and local agency staff. One of the most effective learning techniques is teaching the material to others. Having network coordinators and agency staff conduct workshops and pasture walks on the topic is providing this hands-on-training opportunity, as well as creating learning opportunities for local farmers. The behavior changes we have observed as a result include increased confidence among local agency staff in assisting farmers with conversion to pasture based systems and improvement of pasture management skills.

A second goal of this project is to strengthen local capacity to maintain high quality grazing education by engaging local agency staff in grazing networks. An outcome realized is increased awareness among local agency staff of the value of grazing networks as a means of engaging with clientele and delivering technical assistance, cost-sharing, and other services.

Our three target agencies (UWEX, NRCS, and County LCD staff) have different objectives and areas of expertise, but all three need positive engagement with their local farming community to deliver their products. While group education is the primarily purview of UWEX, such gatherings of farmers are key to soliciting clients for the individualized technical assistance that NRCS and County LCD provide. In many counties, partnerships among these agencies already exist and our efforts through this project is encouraging collaboration among agencies in support of grazing networks. These farmer-led networks thrive with relatively modest agency investments to support coordination and communication and we are demonstrating through local multi-agency partnerships, the value of grazing networks as a vehicle for delivering soil health information and achieving agency conservation goals.

Thirdly, we are strengthening the relationship between GrassWorks and local grazing networks to build an effective statewide network to provide grazing education. This is resulting in a strong, resilient, statewide grazing education network involving trained local agency staff that assist livestock producers through both group education and individual technical assistance, and in the long-term, a robust, effective network of local and state grazing educators and technical assistance providers coordinated cooperatively by GrassWorks and state and local agencies.

Collaborators: