To Learn To Protect Water Quality At Ag Progress Days

On August 05, 2017

Pennsylvania has 86,000 miles of rivers and streams, which flow through farms and backyards, cities and towns, forests and fields. This means that no matter where Pennsylvanians live, virtually all citizens have a role to play in protecting the state’s critical water resources.
Visitors to the College of Agricultural Sciences<http://agsci.psu.edu/> Exhibits Building and Theater at Penn State’s Ag Progress Days, Aug. 15-17, can learn how they can contribute to keeping water clean, safe and abundant. Through educational displays and presentations, Penn State Extension<http://extension.psu.edu/> educators and faculty specialists will cover a variety of water-related topics of interest to a broad spectrum of audiences.

Water quality is a prominent issue in Pennsylvania, especially for agriculture, according to Matt Royer, director of Penn State’s Agriculture and Environment Center<http://agsci.psu.edu/aec>.
“Farmers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have done much to improve water quality by implementing conservation practices on their farms, much of it with their own dollars,” he said. “But more needs to be done. Penn State is helping to lead a coalition of agriculture and environmental leaders to advance innovative, farmer-led solutions to our water quality challenges.”

But it’s not just farmers who have a role, Royer noted. “Everyone, whether they farm 200 acres or have a small backyard lot, can take management steps to protect our water quality,” he said. “We’ll be highlighting those steps in the College Exhibits Building during Ag Progress Days, with experts on hand to talk about what farmers, homeowners, forest landowners, private well owners and city dwellers can do to ensure clean water in Pennsylvania.”

The building will feature a flowing stream landscape, with “tributaries” to four program displays aimed at helping visitors identify specific things they can do to help protect Pennsylvania’s water resources. Exhibits will cover the following four topics. The first is Drinking Water Protection<http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/water/drinking-water>. If you’re one of the 3 million Pennsylvanians who gets your water from a private well, what should you do, and not do, around your well head to help ensure that your drinking water stays safe for your family? Well owners can learn about Penn State’s Ag Analytical Lab and how to test and treat private wells that provide water for households, livestock and other uses.

Another topic will be Stormwater and Green Infrastructure<http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/water/watershed-education/stormwater>. How can you better manage stormwater at your home to reduce flooding, erosion and other water-quality problems on your property and downstream? Learn about the “Homeowner’s Guide to Stormwater” and online mapping tools you can use to make a plan for your home. This exhibit also will feature Penn State’s Master Watershed Stewards program<http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/water/watershed-education/watershed-stewards>, which enlists volunteers to help educate communities across Pennsylvania.

A third display will feature Agricultural Water<http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/water/agriculture>. What are the best practices for farmers to protect local water while raising livestock and field crops? This display will spotlight streambank fencing, proper manure management and other conservation practices. Also, visitors can explore the results of a recent Penn State survey on best practices that Pennsylvania farmers already are implementing to protect local water resources.

A final display will feature Forest Buffers<http://extension.psu.edu/publications/ee0129>. Why are streamside forests so important, and what resources are available to help get them planted? Whether you have a stream running through your farm or your suburban backyard, streamside buffers<http://agsci.psu.edu/aec/webinars-presentations/lessons-from-the-land/success-at-the-streamside-pennsylvania-riprarian-forest-buffers-that-work> — also known as riparian buffers — are one of the most important practices to protect Pennsylvania’s water. Visitors can learn about the many programs available to help with installing a forest buffer on their property.

Also, organizers encourage youth and families to visit the College Exhibits Building at 1 p.m. each day, when 4-H State Council members will lead kids in the new, award-winning “Rain to Drain — Slow the Flow”<http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/water/youth/rain-to-drain> 4-H activity. Young people will get hands-on experience learning how water moves on Earth and how we can reduce flooding, maintain groundwater supplies and prevent water pollution.

To Extend The Grazing Season by Stockpiling Pastures For Fall Grazing

Preparing for fall and winter on livestock operations is something that producers need to think about long before those seasons arrive. Managing pastures for fall and winter grazing should be done as summer draws to an end.

Extension Agronomist Jessica Williamson tells us harvested forages for winter feed can be one of the largest expenses and most time-consuming tasks on a livestock operation. The grazing season can be extended for 2 to 3 months by implementing stockpiled forages into a feeding program, as well as reducing costs traditionally spent for harvesting and storing feed by lowering input costs and time spent harvesting and feeding stored feeds.

Stockpiling is a deferred grazing management strategy in which grazing animals are removed from pastures and forages are accumulated on pastures beginning late summer (late-July to early-August) until forage accumulation and growth dramatically slows or ceases completely. The standing feed is then available to cattle in the fall and winter until it has all been consumed or has a deep snow cover.

After animals are removed from pasture in the late summer, 40-60 lbs. of nitrogen fertilizer should be applied for optimal forage accumulation and quality into the fall. Some cool-season forages dramatically reduce their growth in the fall because of the reduced day length, or they are highly susceptible to losing their leaves after a frost, therefore rendering some cool-season grass species unsuitable for stockpiling. Some cool-season grasses that studies have shown to be successfully stockpiled include Tall Fescue, Downy Bromegrass, Timothy, and Birdsfoot Trefoil. Interseeding annual forage crops such as triticale and forage Brassicas into existing pastures can also be stockpiled and add more forage mass and an increase in overall forage quality.

When harvesting hay, the plant parts with greater nutritive value (i.e. leaves) are more susceptible to falling off the plant and not being present when that harvested forage is fed, robbing livestock of essential nutrients. Because there is no processing or harvesting when stockpiling forages, it better gives the plant an opportunity to retain its higher quality by keeping its leaves. Forage quality and digestibility of stockpiled forages declines as growth accumulates, forages mature, and winter conditions continue, so stockpiling is best if used on lower maintenance grazing animals, such as dry cows.

Managing grazing livestock’s access to stockpiled forages by strip grazing can alleviate wasted feed and leaf loss. Strip grazing is a management system that involves giving livestock a fresh area of pasture every day or every few days by moving a temporary electric fence in the pasture. Limiting the areas they can graze will assist in further prolonging the grazing season and alleviating the need for stored feeds. A “rule of thumb” often used to determine how much stockpiled forage is needed, if using tall fescue, is that one acre of strip grazed 12” tall fescue will support a beef cow for 70 to 90 days.

With the numerous benefits of extending the grazing season via stockpiling, lower tiller density, slower spring recovery, and greater susceptibility to winter injury can also occur. These negative side effects can be reduced with proper management and the use of nitrogen fertilizer, which should be applied prior to stockpiling in the late summer to increase forage accumulation and herbage mass and after grazing of stockpiled forages in the early spring to assist with forage recovery.

Sponsored by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Ag Progress Days is held at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs, 9 miles southwest of State College on Route 45. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 15; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug. 16; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 17. Admission and parking are free.
For more information, visit the Ag Progress Days website<http://apd.psu.edu/>. Twitter users can share information about the event using the hashtag #agprogressdays, and Facebook users can find the event at http://www.facebook.com/AgProgressDays.

Quote Of The Week: “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.” Thomas Jefferson