Description & Fees (PDF)

A three day planning workshop on 12-month pasture and harvested forage management will be offered to livestock producers, land managers, and college students on Tuesday through Thursday, January 5 to 7, 2010 at the new red office building of the North Dakota State University Dickinson Research Extension Center on the corner of State Avenue and Empire Road, Dickinson, ND.

The workshop is designed to scientifically address the persistent problems in animal agriculture of high production costs and low profit margins resulting from the mismatch of forage nutrients required and forage nutrients available between modern, high-performance cattle and traditional low-performance old-style livestock forage management practices.  During the workshop, each participant will learn how to develop and operate a biologically effective management strategy that provides a full 12-month forage sequence for his or her ranch, says Lee Manske, DREC range scientist and a workshop instructor.  These science based management strategies meet the nutrient requirements of livestock during each production period, meet the biological requirements of grass plants and soil organisms, increase the quantity of forage nutrients produced, and improve the efficiency of forage nutrient capture and its conversion into saleable animal weight commodities, resulting in generation of greater new wealth from the land natural resources without depletion of future production.  Information related to the workshop material is available at www.GrazingHandbook.com.

In order to design pasture and harvested forage management strategies specific to individual ranches, maps with each pasture and field for the entire land holdings, including owned and leased land, need to be made and acreages of each soil type in each parcel of land need to be calculated prior to the start of the workshop.  This information can be electronically compiled for participants by a crew of ArcGIS specialists working with another workshop instructor, Toby Stroh, assistant professor at Dickinson State University Agricultural Department, for a minimal cost of $50.00 for an average-sized ranch.  Location descriptions of land holdings will need to be provided a month prior to workshop dates to give sufficient time for map development.

The land holdings and acreage information can be developed the old-fashioned hard way by the participants themselves by preparing a complete set of maps from aerial photos with pasture and field boundaries, calculating acreages of each pasture and parcel of land, and determining forage type and acreages of each soil type within each parcel.  Instructions are available on the web at www.GrazingHandbook.com, scroll down to the third large red button, and go to pages 2 to 6.

The only nonoptional cost of the workshop is a $25.00 lab fee per person to cover costs of supplies used, refreshments each day, and a working supper on the second day.  The regular registration fee of $70.00 has been waived.  A set of three textbooks is available at a cost of $75.00.  The optional, but highly recommended, ArcGIS map set will cost $50.00 per ranch.  An option for professional development with one or two graduate credits for this continuing education course is available from NDSU at a cost of $50.00 per credit.  Participants will supply their own calculators and notebooks.

The workshop will run from 1 pm. to 9 pm. on January 5; from 8 am. to 9 pm. on January 6; and from 8 am. to 5 pm. on January 7, 2010.  Dickinson, ND is in the Mountain time zone.  Participants requesting ArcGIS maps to be developed for their ranch must register by December 7.  Space is limited, so those who wish to attend are encouraged to register as soon as possible.  For information or to register call 701-483-2348 ext. 118.