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An idea to share
Forage colleagues:
Many of us on this list are teachers, researches, extensionists, or
progressive farmers who give talks to other farmers about improved
pasture management techniques.
I came up with an idea recently that probably isn't original, but might
be useful for you to use in your presentation depending on the audience.
It is to use the term "precision farming" when describing controlled
rotational grazing (management-intensive grazing, whatever's your
favorite term).
As many of you know, PF is catching on in large-scale
cropping areas as a tool to achieve sustainability in crop farming by
mapping fields and applying variable rates of chemicals so that each
small area is optimally treated. This reduces waste, cost, pollution,
etc. It's also real high tech and quite an expensive investment in
equipment, computer skills, consultant costs, etc.
However, electric fencing of relatively small paddocks allows the
livestock producer to practice PF in a low-tech fashion. The analogy can
extend to optimal targeting of purchased inputs (localized weed control,
localized fertilizing, etc) or extend the analogy to targeting of specific
defoliation regimes to achieve a desired vegetation objective (I sound
too much like an educator there, sorry).
The crop people are playing up this PF thing big and more power to
them. But we can borrow that concept and show how electric fencing
allows one to practice precision farming without having to buy a big
rig. As we learn more about how controlled grazing affects nutrient
cycling, the concept of PF becomes even more important in using
controlled grazing to direct nutrient cycling.
Like I said, I'm sure this analogy probably isn't original, but I
hadn't heard it yet, and thought I'd share it.
Chuck West
University of Arkansas
http://www.uark.edu/depts/agronomy/public_html/cpwest.html