The 2021-2022 NERM Grant “Reducing risk in beef cattle
operations by good management” has been successfully executed. The program was developed
to cover the largest topics in beef production, including marketing, soil
health, cattle production and health, forage production as well as an onsite
field day. We started as planned with the first workshop in November 2021, covering
marketing. Top professionals from across WV presented various topics for the
day, including farm budgets and planning, farm goals and objectives, insurance and
farm policies, beef economical software, and others. Evaluations were taken at
the beginning and end of each course to determine knowledge starting points and
knowledge gained to be implemented into producers’ operations.
The second full day workshop in December 2021 covered soils
and soil health. The state and area soil scientists from NRCS along with other
agricultural professionals conducted the workshop. The topics covered included soil
structures, soil health, erosion and compaction control, soil testing, deciphering
soil analyses, fertilizing economically, and lime applications.
The third
workshop in January 2022 covered cattle production and health topics, including
cattle nutrition, cattle minerals and supplements, bovine vaccinations and
health plans, calf processing, body condition scoring, multi-species grazing, winter
feeding and supplementation, and recordkeeping.
The fourth workshop in February 2022 covered forage
production and grazing management. This set of lectures included plant botany,
forage utilization and rotational grazing, forage stockpiling, frost seeding, forage
selection and seeding rates.
The last workshop in March 2022 was a farm field
day that led the producers through a working beef cattle operation. The participants
were able to see firsthand different watering systems, feeding areas, weed
evaluations, agricultural technology, such as drowns and gps systems, forage
mass measurements and rotational schedules, pasture stick utilization and bale grazing
and strip grazing systems.
After each workshop, the participants received materials that
can be implemented directly into their beef operations. At the end of the series,
each participant had received all the materials needed for a bale grazing
system and had gained the knowledge to use the materials. At the end of the
course, farm visits were conducted, and a follow-up survey was given to measure
the impact of the course on farm operations since the beginning of the
workshops. I was pleased to see that most of the farms have implemented a lot of
the tools and knowledge covered in the workshops or have improved upon
production practices.