Finger Lakes Grazing Advocacy Program

Finger Lakes Grazing Advocacy Program

Summary

The primary purpose of the Finger Lakes Grazing Advocacy Program is to initiate a pilot grazing advocacy project by contracting with consultants knowledgeable in the principles of prescribed grazing and conservation planning. Presently, local, state and federal conservation and environmental programs are continually experiencing decreases in their respective budgets. Therefore, these agencies and organizations have limited ability to provide technical assistance to the livestock industry and more specifically grazing farms.

Under the direction of the Sullivan Trail RC&D Council, a regional non-profit 501C.3 organization, the Finger Lakes Grazing Advocacy Program allows for the more efficient use of local, state, federal, and private services resulting in the development of grazing plans and the installation of Best Management Plans associated with prescribed grazing. Regional representatives of Cornell Cooperative Extension, in collaboration with the private consultants and other agency personnel, have been able to conduct seminars, pasture walks, and field days that have emphasized prescribed grazing.

Objectives/Performance Targets

a) Make 125 contacts with new graziers;

b) Coordinate a minimum of 30 pasture walks with an average of 15 attendees for a total of 450 participants;

c) Conduct nine grazing seminars and workshops with an average of 35 people for an overall attendance of 315;

d) Make 200 farm follow-up visits;

e) Prepare 45 grazing plans with an average of 65 acres of pasture/plan totaling 2925 acres;

f) Install BMPs on a minimum of 10 farms with grazing plans;

g) Take 50 to 60 forage samples over two growing seasons;

h) Prepare 24 articles on grazing, dairy nutrition and management for submission to the local media and “Country Folks”;

i) Establish one in-the-field demonstration plot with side-by-side comparisons of management techniques per year;

j) Establish and maintain a database of landowners in the Finger Lakes region who are interested in grazing.

Accomplishments/Milestones

a) Grazing advocates have made 75 contacts with new graziers.

b) Seven pasture walks have been held with 97 attendees averaging 13.8 people/pasture walk.

c) Five workshops or seminars held with 290 attendees which is an average of 58 people at each event.

d) Two hundred and seven farm follow-up contacts made.

e) Thirty plans have been completed and distributed by the grazing advocates.

f) Best management practices such as fencing (interior and perimeter), laneway improvement, livestock watering systems, well and pasture improvements, and brush management have been installed on 17 livestock farms.

g) Forty-two samples have been taken and analyzed.

h) Fourteen articles have been written on grazing, dairy nutrition and dairy management.

i) To date, no demonstration plots are in place.

j) Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Area Dairy and Field Crops Team for Cortland,Chemung, Schuyler, Tioga, and Tompkins counties is maintaining the landowner database.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

The project sponsor, Sullivan Trail RC&D Council, is extremely pleased with the progress that has been made since the inception of this SARE grant. Local NRCS, Cooperative Extension, and Soil and Water Conservation District offices are referring new and established graziers to the grazing advocates for assistance in developing grazing plans. Consequently the advocates are providing a quality product which can be used by the partnering agencies to expedite the installation of Best Management Practices on grazing farms throughout the Finger Lakes Region.

Through this collaborate effort, information on grazing and dairy/livestock management is being disseminated through regularly held pasture walks and grazing workshops. Requests for technical assistance from graziers are no longer being buried on the desks of overworked and underfunded agency personnel, but are being services in a timely fashion. Names of graziers who have been contacted by the advocates are now being incorporated into databases that can be accessed for future state or federal grant applications.

The project’s outreach efforts have allowed for the sharing of information collected through onsite demonstrations, and pasture walks, which have provided opportunities for farmer-to-farmer dialogues. Many of the project’s performance targets have already exceeded the 50% level, and the Sullivan Trail RC&D Council fully expects to easily exceed the project goals. Such success will continue to allow local S&WCD, NRCS, and CCE personnel to use private sector assistance that can result in the implementation of environmentally sound and economically efficient conservation practices.

Collaborators: