Grazing Workshop Slated For January

Cell Grazing, dormant season grazing, swath grazing, crop residue grazing and bale grazing, everything you need to know about grazing. Steve Kenyon, Green Pastures Ranching Ltd. will be in Sidney on January 17 to speak about these grazing alternatives. The workshop will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Richland County MSU-Extension Meeting Room, 1499 N Central Ave, Sidney, MT. Cost to attend will be $20 which will include lunch.

Steve Kenyon runs a custom grazing business in the Westlock, Alberta area under the name of Greener Pastures Ranching Ltd. He on average manages about 1000 head of livestock on 3000 acres of leased land. By using extended grazing techniques, he is able to pasture cattle year round. This is accomplished by using a combination of intensive cell grazing, dormant season grazing, swath grazing, crop residue grazing and bale grazing. Steve has become well respected in the agriculture community for his business management and innovative ideas.

Steve has been teaching sustainable grazing management for more than ten years and has been a keynote speaker at many conferences and seminars throughout Canada and the U.S. He is a writer for the Stockman Grass Farmer magazine and also for the Canadian Cattleman Magazine. He is also the author of "The Calendar of the Year Round Grazier". Steve has a very energetic personality, which compliments a very down to earth common sense approach to farm business management. Yet he is still just a producer and presents in a very honest and straightforward style. Steve has developed and instructs the "Year Round Grazing Systems" Agricultural Business Management Course. This three-day course includes a human resource component, economics, finances, grazing principles, cell design and pasture rejuvenation. This course will take you right into design and planning of a year round grazing system

The Mission statement of Greener Pastures is "Economic Sustainability for Generations" It is important to provide an enjoyable, profitable and sustainable business for future generations. Steve believes that to be profitable in the long term, you must use sustainable agriculture practices. You have to work with nature, not against her. Greener Pastures is an environmentally sustainable ranch that improves the land. The focus is to maintain an effective water cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle and mineral cycle. Our wildlife habitats and riparian areas need to be preserved. The health of our soils and our soil organisms needs to be understood and protected in order to ensure that our agricultural businesses remain profitable and sustainable.

To learn more about Steve, check out his website http://www.greenerpasturesranching.com and join us on January 17 at the Richland County MSU-Extension meeting room, 1499 N Central Ave, Sidney, MT.

We will also be co-hosting the Soil and Water Conservation Districts of Montana and the Natural Resource Conservation Service Soil Health Workshop Series on January 19 at Richland County Event Center. To register for this workshop visit http://www.swcdm.or/soil-health or contact Ann, 406-433-5711. Early registration cost through January 8 is $15. At the door registration is $20.

Derek Axten and Brendon Rockey will be the featured speakers at that workshop focusing on the cropland side of soil health. Derek Axten owns and operates a diversified grain farm in Southern Saskatchewan with his family. He has implemented innovative ideas to improve sustainability and profitability of the family farm. While attending workshops and conferences with his wife, they met farmers and scientists who taught them to change the way they looked at farming. This led to their journey towards soil health and regenerating their farmland. Learning about soil biology and how soil functions, has renewed their passion for farming, and improved the farm's productivity.

Brendon Rockey of Rockey Farms in Center, Colorado, raises specialty potatoes and quinoa on 500-acres under irrigation at 7,600 feet above sea level using a biotic approach. Brendon chooses to use biological inputs like companion crops, livestock, green manure and flowering strips instead of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. Biotic management supports a healthy, diverse pollinator population as well as a healthy farm and healthy consumers. You can find more information on these two speakers at http://www.notill.org/derek-axten and http://www.brendenrockey.com.

 

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