Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Agronomic: corn, grass (misc. perennial), hay
- Animals: bovine, poultry, swine
- Animal Products: dairy
Practices
- Animal Production: feed formulation, feed rations, manure management, mineral supplements, pasture fertility, pasture renovation, preventive practices, grazing - rotational, feed/forage
- Crop Production: continuous cropping, cover crops, double cropping, intercropping, nutrient cycling, organic fertilizers, application rate management, relay cropping, tissue analysis
- Education and Training: demonstration, extension
- Farm Business Management: whole farm planning
- Soil Management: organic matter, soil analysis, nutrient mineralization
- Sustainable Communities: sustainability measures
Abstract:
The Feed Management education project held ten workshops in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon that focused on Feed Management for audiences at the introductory or advanced level. The primary livestock audiences were dairy and beef. During the latter part of 2004 we developed a tool to implement the concept of Feed Management on dairy operations. The development of this tool led us to submit a grant proposal to the NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant Program. In September of 2006, we were awarded a $425,000 grant from NRCS to develop and implement Feed Management nationally according to NRCS Practice Standard 592 – Feed Management.
Project objectives:
- 1. Provide training to Ag Professionals in feed management concepts and practices that minimize the import of nutrients to the farm and provide economic and environmental sustainability
2. Provide training in the use of computer models and software for strategic ration balancing, whole-farm nutrient balance, and whole-farm economics
3. Develop educational materials that are specific to the Pacific Northwest regional animal industries while utilizing national curriculum developed to address nutrition in the context of nutrient management