Released: January 17, 2003

Anderson to Discuss Grazing Issues

MANHATTAN, Kan. – A common winter scene in Kansas is farmers and ranchers battling the elements to haul and feed hay to their livestock. In feeding that hay, however, they face a challenge: how can they reduce feed costs and still meet an animal’s nutrient needs?

The simple answer - extend the grazing season.

According to Jana Beckman, Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops coordinator, research shows animal performance and gains can be improved when the peak nutritional value of the forage is timed to coincide with times of the year when the animal’s nutrient needs are high. Beckman said a way to keep feed costs down is to provide forages for animals to graze as much of the year as possible.

Bruce Anderson will discuss grazing in depth at the ninth annual Kansas Sustainable Agriculture Roundup, scheduled Feb. 7-8, 2003, in Manhattan. The event, sponsored by KCSAAC, the Kansas Rural Center and the Kansas Center for Agricultural Resources and the Environment is open to farmers, ranchers, food advocates and consumers and Extension employees.

Anderson is a professor of agronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His research and extension activities focus on pasture utilization and grazing management. Anderson will discuss practical methods to incorporate annual and nontraditional forages into existing grazing systems and how those forages can extend the grazing season. Forages he will discuss include turnips, triticale, oats, alfalfa, standing corn, canola and forage sorghums.

Winter feed costs can be expensive and reduce profits, as Beckman estimates it costs about $12 per ton to feed hay.

"We need to graze animals as many months as possible here in Kansas," said Gary Kilgore, crops and soils specialist with K-State Research and Extension. "It is a considerably lower cost to graze animals instead of hauling feed to them."

Kilgore said Kansas producers have the ability to graze year round.

"Here in Kansas with our warm-season grass and cool-season grass we should be able to graze year round except for [during] snow cover or a summer drought," he said. "Managing grasses for that purpose takes some planning and knowledge of how plants grow."

For more information about year-round grazing or the Roundup, contact KCSAAC at 785-532-1440 or email kcsaac@oznet.ksu.edu. The center can also be reached by mail at KCSAAC, Kansas State University, 3602 Throckmorton Hall, c/o HFRR, Manhattan, KS 66506.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Lisa Solomon, Communications Assistant
lms4577@ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News