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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