Bale Grazing to Regenerate Reclaimed Surface-Mine Land

Commodities

• Agronomic: grass (misc. perennial)
• Animals: bovine
• Animal Products: meat

Practices

• Animal Production: pasture fertility, rangeland/pasture management
• Education and Training: demonstration, extension, farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research, study circle
• Natural Resources/Environment: other
• Production Systems: integrated crop and livestock systems
• Soil Management: organic matter, soil analysis, soil quality/health
• Sustainable Communities: community development

There are over 2 million acres of former strip-mined land in the
Eastern United States with poor soil health and low productivity.
Bale grazing is a practice that can be used to regenerate these
soils in combination with regenerative grazing practices. In this
project we will study effects of bale grazing of intact or
unrolled bales on soil health and fertility and pasture
productivity on two farms in western Pennsylvania in
collaboration with Allegheny Grass Fed Cooperative. Experiments
will be laid out as randomized complete block designs with three
treatments (control, grazing intact bales, and grazing unrolled
bales) and three replications. Soil health and pasture
productivity will evaluated in the year following bale grazing
over two years in two different fields/yr. In our outreach
program, we plan to support one break-out/yr at the Western
Pennsylvania Grazing Conference, organize 1 field walk per year,
organize monthly book discussions via Zoom through Allegheny
Grass Fed Cooperative and write one article for Penn State’s
Field Crop News and one Penn State factsheet on bale grazing.

On previously surface-mined land, this project seeks to evaluate
effects of bale grazing on:

• Soil health and fertility
• Pasture productivity

This practice can potentially lead to changes in winter feeding
practices that result in improved soil health and pasture
productivity without any additional external inputs.