Innovative and sustainable grazing strategies, wheat stem sawfly biocontrol and Russian olive management are just some of the topics featured in this year’s tenth annual BrownBagger series which begins this Friday at the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory (NPARL) in Sidney.
The 2012 seminar series kicks off with two special grazing presentations by area ranchers, Ray Bannister of Wibaux and Wayne Berry of Fairview. First up is Ray Bannister whose presentation entitled “Adapting to change” will be held from noon to 1 pm on Friday, January 20th, in the Sidney ARS Lab’s Tech Transfer Room.
Ray is well known for his “boom and bust” grazing strategies that call for heavy grazing in pastures over short periods followed by longer rest periods. The system ensures that the cattle eat all the forage in the pasture and not just select plants, eliminating the competitive advantage of those less palatable plants. The long rest period also ensures sufficient recovery time for stressed soils and plants and the end result has been abundant plant cover even in drought periods, all with lower input costs.
To be successful, however, the system requires modifying livestock behavior to achieve grazing management goals. Ray will share his experience in doing just that on Friday as well. Ultimately, he says, to be successful any grazing management strategy must be robust enough to allow ranchers to adapt to changing conditions. “You need to have a system that adapts to change,” he says, “because that’s what you’re going to get.”
Following Ray in the ARS BrownBagger series is Fairview area rancher, educator and self-defined “grass farmer” Wayne Berry, who will share his own innovative holistic management approach to ranching on Friday, February 3rd, beginning at noon. His presentation is entitled “What I’ve learned since 1955” and describes the many lessons he’s learned and the tools he’s used over the past five decades to accomplish his and his family’s goals of enjoying life, while ensuring that the ranch stays profitable and the land remains healthy and sustainable.
Please join us at NPARL (located at 1500 N. Central in Sidney) for these two fascinating conversations by two well-known and well-respected ranching innovators. The public is also invited to join us for our other 2012 BrownBagger discussions being held throughout the winter months. All presentations are on a Friday, from noon to 1 pm. For more information, contact Beth Redlin at 406-433-9427.
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