ExtensiveGrazing

The Extensive Grazing Research Student Managed Farm Unit powered by New Holland, focuses on sustainably raising our commercial Hereford Angus herd through extensive management practices. Although we try to remain extensive and low maintenance in our management and keep handling to a minimum, we are still focused on building a strong, maternal herd which contains an in-depth databank of herd performance and breed composition. We aim to implement a 365-day grazing plan which allows the cows to graze pastureland and crop stubble as well as bale grazing throughout the year. This fall after bringing the herd home from summer pasture they were grazing on crop stubble and were supplemented with shredded bales. In the second semester we began bale grazing. Our replacement heifers were put through a Residual Feed Intake (RFI) Trial to gather feed efficiency information and to build the herds data bank. For bale grazing this year we took a more extensive approach than what has traditionally been done and what the units have done in the past. This winter we set out bales to last the cows a week before having to refill. We set out 25 bales, 19 hay bales and 6 greenfeed, once most of the bales are eaten and the cows clean up the majority of the forage, they then move to another feeding site. Our replacement heifers are also put onto a RFI trial to determine each heifer’s feed efficiency by gathering their precise feed intake and average daily gain. By collecting this data, we can make our herd more efficient and overall more economical by building a database that we can reference when selecting replacement heifers in the future. RFI is a trait that is predicted to be heritable so by collecting this data on our heifers we are able to monitor the heritability throughout our herd. In addition to our own herd, we work closely with the Lakeland College Research Department on campus. Assisting with their research trials such as the Swath Grazing trial that concluded in January of this year, helping and involving ourselves with the weighing and moving of the steers within the trail and doing health checks on the animals before they went into the trial in November. Our heifer selection process also includes the research department as our replacement heifers are involved with the RFI Trial that takes place in February. We all meet and select not only based upon physical phenotype but also the dam’s performance records and subsequent weaning weights.

After the RFI Trial we take our top performers based off the information collected and use it for our final selection for replacements entering our herd.