Grazing School at Gould Farm: Best Practices for Pasture Management

Workshop presented by Berkshire Grown and Berkshire Agricultural Ventures:

In this all-day workshop we will discuss the basics of how set up a new grazing system, and how to troubleshoot and improve an existing one.  We start the day from the perspective of pasture plants, and then shift to look at grazing from the perspective of the livestock.  This will provide a solid understanding of how to meet the needs of the plants and livestock from the soil up.  Topics will include how to use the “Graziers Toolbox” including varied stock densities, trampling and different regrowth periods, pre & post grazing heights to use livestock to improve the pastures as well as fertility inputs, soil testing and reseeding strategies.  We will cover “Pasture Pitfalls” as we look at common problems and how to identify the cause and come up with low cost solutions.  We will do the “Pasture Math” to calculate paddock sizes, acreage needs and stocking rates.  We will look at how to maximize pasture intake for the livestock to lower feed costs and improve livestock wellbeing and productivity.  We will also discuss how to observe and monitor the soils, plants and livestock so that we can better understand if our grazing systems are working the way we want them to, and what we can do to make them better. Click here for more information.

Presenter: Sarah Flack is an author, consultant, and speaker who specializing in grass-based livestock farming systems.  She takes a practical approach in applying the science of agronomy and grazing, combined with farm business planning, to allow farmers to make well informed decisions.  Her goal is to help create more farms with successful grass-based management systems, empowering farmers to create positive change for pastures, soils, livestock, and farmers quality of life.  Sarah is author of The Art and Science of Grazing,  Organic Dairy Production and co author of The Organic Dairy Handbook, Vermont Grass-Based Beef Profitability: Lessons and Budgets, and Transitioning to Organic Dairy as well as many articles.

Register Here! Please pre-register for the workshop the day before it takes place by noon at latest. Zoom links to the workshops will be emailed the day before for each workshop.

Cost of registration is $40 for Berkshire Grown Members and $50 for Non-Members.

For more information, contact Jordan Archey, Program Manager for Business Members, at jordan@berkshiregrown.org