BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Grazing livestock can be a low-cost way to make use of perennial grasses to produce food and fiber for the family or to sell. The complexities of what seems to be the simple practice of grazing are the focus of a free discussion series organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension for locations in Binghamton, Cortland, Horseheads, Ithaca, and Moravia. Graziers of all types of livestock are invited to attend any or all of the meetings in the series. Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) re-certification credits are available to beef and dairy farmers with current BQA certification. For more information or to register, see https://reg.cce.cornell.edu/
All meetings will run from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The locations and dates for the Grazing Livestock series are as follow:
- Binghamton: Broome County Cornell Cooperative Extension, 840 Upper Front Street #2; January 12 and 26, February 2
- Cortland: Cortland County Cornell Cooperative Extension, 60 Central Avenue; January 18, February 15, March 15
- Horseheads: 4-H Building, Chemung County Fairgrounds, 170 Fairview Road; January 11 and 25, February 1
- Ithaca: Tompkins County Cornell Cooperative Extension, 615 Willow Avenue; January 17, February 21, March 21
- Moravia: Masonic Lodge, 159 Main Street; February 14 and 28, March 14.
“To be profitable, productive, and fun, graziers need to understand the interactions of nutrition, plant growth, nutrient cycling, soil health, and recordkeeping, as well as other factors that influence successful grazing,” says beef and cattle grazing expert Fay Benson, who will facilitate this winter discussion series. He has developed a collection of recorded and printed grazing resources during his 20 year as a dairy and custom grazier and his 20 years as an educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Meeting attendees will have the opportunity to share information about their grazing operations and to learn how to strengthen the weaknesses in their grazing program. The meetings will open with a round of soup and a grazing livestock presentation before the discussion section.
–Cornell Cooperative Extension