BELLEVILLE - Green County Land and Water Conservation Department and the Natural Resources Conservation Service will be offering the 2016 Spring Pasture Walk at 10 a.m. May 19 at the Bert and Trish Paris Farm, W3443 County W, Belleville.
Bert Paris started farming in 1983 in Oregon, Wisconsin. He and his wife Trish purchased their current farm in 1992. In 1993, they started to rotationally graze their cattle on pasture. Paris milks 80 cows and continues to pasture the cattle even during winter months. He started with Holsteins and has bred Jersey, Shorthorn, Ayrshire, Normandy and Red Angler. The herd is rotationally grazed on 130 acres, typically kept on pasture April 15 through Dec. 1. The cows are dried up in January to February and calving starts the first of March.
Registration and networking begins at 10 a.m., followed at 10:15 by a pasture walk and discussion of the Pasture Condition Index and what constitutes a healthy pasture. At 11 a.m., Brian Pillsbury, the state Grazing Land Specialist from NRCS, will discuss "Maximizing Production on Your Pasture" and demonstrate how to assess and increase production on pastures.
Optimum pasture production is solely dependent on management. Livestock should not graze the same land repeatedly. Close or continuous grazing depletes the stored carbohydrates that are needed for both top and root growth. Depleted root systems make plants less drought-tolerant. Allowing plants an adequate rest period and not overgrazing pastures keeps root systems healthy and productive, which maintains healthy plants. The root system not only anchors the plant to the ground and stores carbohydrates but allows for the uptake of water and nutrients for plant functions. Leaving three to five inches of forage on the ground allows solar collectors in the plants to make new carbohydrates needed for re-growth. A faster re-growth allows the livestock to return to a pasture faster, resulting in more rotations.
Bert Paris started farming in 1983 in Oregon, Wisconsin. He and his wife Trish purchased their current farm in 1992. In 1993, they started to rotationally graze their cattle on pasture. Paris milks 80 cows and continues to pasture the cattle even during winter months. He started with Holsteins and has bred Jersey, Shorthorn, Ayrshire, Normandy and Red Angler. The herd is rotationally grazed on 130 acres, typically kept on pasture April 15 through Dec. 1. The cows are dried up in January to February and calving starts the first of March.
Registration and networking begins at 10 a.m., followed at 10:15 by a pasture walk and discussion of the Pasture Condition Index and what constitutes a healthy pasture. At 11 a.m., Brian Pillsbury, the state Grazing Land Specialist from NRCS, will discuss "Maximizing Production on Your Pasture" and demonstrate how to assess and increase production on pastures.
Optimum pasture production is solely dependent on management. Livestock should not graze the same land repeatedly. Close or continuous grazing depletes the stored carbohydrates that are needed for both top and root growth. Depleted root systems make plants less drought-tolerant. Allowing plants an adequate rest period and not overgrazing pastures keeps root systems healthy and productive, which maintains healthy plants. The root system not only anchors the plant to the ground and stores carbohydrates but allows for the uptake of water and nutrients for plant functions. Leaving three to five inches of forage on the ground allows solar collectors in the plants to make new carbohydrates needed for re-growth. A faster re-growth allows the livestock to return to a pasture faster, resulting in more rotations.