STOCKTON, Ill. — On Saturday, June 9, 2018 University of Illinois Extension will hold a pasture walk from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Greg and Janis Thoren farm located at 5650 S. Ridge Rd. Stockton, IL 61085. The cost for this program will be $5. For more information or to register please visit us online at web.extension.illinois.edu/jsw or call us at 815-858-2273. Between the overgrazing last fall, current hay shortage, and a delayed spring, producers are left with a shortage of options for the upcoming grazing season. The combination of these issues have left pastures ragged and in need of restoration, if not a complete renovation.
Presenters for the day will include U of I Commercial Ag Educator Travis Meteer who will talk about overgrazing and the slow start to the grazing season and how all of this ties into nutrition and body condition scores of cattle. Travis will also talk about where to go from here to best optimize this grazing season in terms of meeting the needs of your cattle.
Phillip Alberti, U of I Commercial Ag Educator will talk about soil sampling and how to implement that in a pasture setting. When considering pasture improvement, soil conditions are at the heart of the decision making process and will require some testing and interpretation to achieve your goals. Land use, management practices, and plant species will all influence the proper soil testing procedures such as: when to sample, sampling depth, where to sample, and number of samples to be collected. Test results will influence many decisions including fertilizer and amendment applications as well as plant species selection; importantly, knowing which soil characteristics to assess are a vital part of the soil testing process. While soil testing does provide its own challenges, taking the time to do it properly will save time and money in the long run while improving pasture productivity now.
Jay Solomon, U of I Extension Energy and Environmental Stewardship Educator will talk about grazing systems and management. Within this Jay will discuss forages and how to manage them for what you need now at the start of the grazing season and what you will need later towards the end of the grazing season. Jay will also talk about options for overcoming fencing and watering challenges when subdividing pastures.
To follow this up, U of I Extension will also be holding a two part classroom style series on June 19 and June 26 to follow this up and discuss these topics in further detail. Look for more information to come on these nights soon.
— Nikki Keltner, Program Coordinator, University of Illinois Extension
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