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Rylee Nelson, a Waupaca High School student, speaks April 25 to grazing planners at Cavern Point Farm near Stratford, Wisconsin. She lives on her parents' beef and hair-sheep farm where they direct-market grass-fed beef and lamb. Visit facebook.com and search for 'Nelson’s Artesian Acres' for more information.
Jason Cavadini shows grazing planners a method of measuring pasture-forage volume, a 4-wheeler-mounted PaddocKTrac unit. It’s not yet commercially available; it's being developed by the University of Missouri. Cavern Point and several other farms are involved in its development.
Randy Jackson is a professor of grassland ecology in the University of Wisconsin-Department of Agronomy. He encourages planners to think more broadly about what potential grass farmers really want in terms of lifestyle and farm-management methods. 'It’s more and more the case when farmers are going to start getting paid for carbon,' he says. 'Running tractors up and down pastures is probably going to undermine the benefits of carbon in the soil pretty quickly.'
Grazing planners meet at Cavern Point Farm near Stratford, Wisconsin, for a field day in the 'Four Seasons Grazing Planning' program. It's a series of webinars and field days designed by Grassland 2.0 Academy for further educating grazing planners with at least two years experience writing grazing plans.
Bill Kolodziej, left, who wrote the initial grazing plan for Cavern Point Farm, stresses flexibility in writing plans for beginning farmers. Patrick Bula is a conservationist with Sauk County Land Resources and Environment who is also involved in his family’s diverse grass-fed-livestock farm.
Kneeling in center, Adam Abel, the Wisconsin State grazing-land specialist, assists grazing planners in estimating when Cavern Point Farm will be able to begin the grazing rotation. The consensus was two weeks from the April 25 field day.
In addition to doing work as a field technician in a research project at the University of Wisconsin regarding bale grazing, Francois Anglade is learning the skills required to create grazing plans.
Brooke Bembenek, conservation-grazing analyst with Marathon County Conservation, Planning, and Zoning, shows planners how to measure pasture forage when spring conditions have newly started paddocks with mixed levels of early growth.
Because Cavern Point Farm is no-tilling a mix of seed into existing pasture the day of the event, planners check seed depth in newly planted rows.
Austin Pethan balances time as a grass-fed-lamb producer on his Prairie Folk Farm near Chilton, Wisconsin, with his private grazing-consultant service. He’s been a consultant for more than two years, with clients across Wisconsin.
Jacob Prater, a professor of soil science at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, is starting a managed-grazing course and managed-grazing certificate class. He plans to direct interested students to the growing field of grazing planning.
Jason Cavadini familiarizes attendees with his grazing operation. He is kind enough to turn off electric fences for participants; his well-trained herd of Red Angus cattle stay within their boundaries.
Winter management on Cavern Point Farm consists of utilizing bale grazing to feed the cattle. Jason Cavadini is down to his final rows of preset round bales just in time for the beginning of the grazing season.
Grazing planners discuss a critical and sensitive area on Cavern Point Farm consisting of a swale created years ago by previous owners to handle excess water during heavy rains and thawing snow.
Jason Cavadini shows a completed grazing plan, including aerial photos and maps of the grazing layout as well as critical and sensitive areas to avoid.
A four-sided grazing stick contains a variety of methods and factual information that can be used to guide farmers and grazing planners through the process of estimating the amount of forage in a pasture.
A lecture portion of the field day took place in Jason Cavadini’s renovated haymow above the traditional red dairy barn at Cavern Point Farm.
Greg Galbraith
STRATFORD, Wis. – In a speech to grazing planners attending a Grassland 2.0 Academy Field Day at Cavern Point Farm near Stratford, Rylee Nelson of Waupaca High School shared her hope that more farmers will use sustainable practices to improve soil health.
Greg Galbraith, a former dairy farmer, writes about the rapidly changing nature of the agricultural landscape. He has built a lifetime connection to the land and those who farm it.
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Rylee Nelson, a Waupaca High School student, speaks April 25 to grazing planners at Cavern Point Farm near Stratford, Wisconsin. She lives on her parents' beef and hair-sheep farm where they direct-market grass-fed beef and lamb. Visit facebook.com and search for 'Nelson’s Artesian Acres' for more information.
Jason Cavadini shows grazing planners a method of measuring pasture-forage volume, a 4-wheeler-mounted PaddocKTrac unit. It’s not yet commercially available; it's being developed by the University of Missouri. Cavern Point and several other farms are involved in its development.
Randy Jackson is a professor of grassland ecology in the University of Wisconsin-Department of Agronomy. He encourages planners to think more broadly about what potential grass farmers really want in terms of lifestyle and farm-management methods. 'It’s more and more the case when farmers are going to start getting paid for carbon,' he says. 'Running tractors up and down pastures is probably going to undermine the benefits of carbon in the soil pretty quickly.'
Grazing planners meet at Cavern Point Farm near Stratford, Wisconsin, for a field day in the 'Four Seasons Grazing Planning' program. It's a series of webinars and field days designed by Grassland 2.0 Academy for further educating grazing planners with at least two years experience writing grazing plans.
Bill Kolodziej, left, who wrote the initial grazing plan for Cavern Point Farm, stresses flexibility in writing plans for beginning farmers. Patrick Bula is a conservationist with Sauk County Land Resources and Environment who is also involved in his family’s diverse grass-fed-livestock farm.
Kneeling in center, Adam Abel, the Wisconsin State grazing-land specialist, assists grazing planners in estimating when Cavern Point Farm will be able to begin the grazing rotation. The consensus was two weeks from the April 25 field day.
Brooke Bembenek, conservation-grazing analyst with Marathon County Conservation, Planning, and Zoning, shows planners how to measure pasture forage when spring conditions have newly started paddocks with mixed levels of early growth.
Austin Pethan balances time as a grass-fed-lamb producer on his Prairie Folk Farm near Chilton, Wisconsin, with his private grazing-consultant service. He’s been a consultant for more than two years, with clients across Wisconsin.
Jacob Prater, a professor of soil science at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, is starting a managed-grazing course and managed-grazing certificate class. He plans to direct interested students to the growing field of grazing planning.
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