NDSU Offers Livestock-Pasture-Forage Management Planning Course

A course on 12-month livestock-pasture-forage management will be offered Tuesday through Friday, Jan. 6-9, 2009, on the campus of Dickinson State University.

The course is designed for producers and students who want to learn more about developing pasture-forage management plans. This planning course is a cooperative project of the North Dakota State University Dickinson Research Extension Center, DSU Agricultural Department, NDSU School of Natural Resource Sciences and NDSU Animal Sciences Department.

“Each participant in the course will develop a grassland management strategy that provides a full 12-month forage sequence for his or her ranch,” says Lee Manske, DREC range scientist and one of the course instructors. “Participants will learn about range ecology, livestock nutrition and forage production so they can understand and operate their 12-month pasture-forage- management plans.”

A preview of the course material is available at http://www.GrazingHandbook.com.

In addition to Manske, course instructors include Kevin Sedivec, NDSU Extension Service range management specialist; Toby Stroh, DSU assistant professor of agriculture; and Greg Lardy, NDSU Extension Service beef specialist.

The team of instructors will lead discussions and explain basic principles and concepts of land and resource inventories, rangeland ecosystems, grass growth, effects of defoliation, livestock nutritional requirements, nutritional value curves of forage plants, grazing systems, economics of systems, production of annual forages, byproducts as feed, winter rations and the development of 12-month management plans.

Prior to the start of the course, participants will need to prepare a complete set of maps; obtain copies of aerial photos for their entire land holdings, including owned and leased land; and calculate the acreage of each parcel of land and forage type. Instructions for completing the pasture and forage inventory and maps will be mailed on request.

An option to preparing these maps is to register prior to Nov. 30 and request specialists from the DSU Agricultural Department to develop ArcGIS maps for the entire pasture and forage operation. The cost for the maps is $50 for an average-sized ranch. Location descriptions of land holdings will need to be provided a month prior to the beginning of the course to give sufficient time for map development. Information from completed maps will be explained from 1 to 5 p.m. on Jan. 6.

The cost of the course is $100 to producers ($70 registration and $30 laboratory fee). College students can receive 1 credit from DSU. The cost of the course will be included in regular tuition and fees, but the student must pay a $30 laboratory fee.

Professionals and advanced students can receive a continuing education graduate credit from NDSU. The cost of the course is $50 for the credit, $70 for registration and a $30 lab fee. The textbook will cost $75. Participants will supply their own calculators and notebooks.

The course will run from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Jan. 7 and 8. Classes will run from 8 a.m. to noon on Jan. 9. Dickinson is in the Mountain time zone. Space is limited, so those who wish to participate are encouraged to register as soon as possible by calling (701) 483-2185.

NDSU Agriculture Communication