Understanding and Applying Value of Gain in a Livestock Enterprise
Kevin Shaffer
January 16 Pendleton Community Building, 299 ConfederateRd.,Franklin,WV 6:30 PM Brooke Alt, 304-358-2286
brooke.alt@mail.wvu.edu
January 17 Marlinton Municipal Building, 709 2ndAve,Marlinton,WV 6:00 PM Greg Hamons, 304-799-4852 greg.hamons@mail.wvu.edu
January 18 WVU Bldg, State Fairgrounds, Fairlea,WV 6:30 PMJosh Peplowski, 304-647-7408joshua.peplowski@mail.wvu.edu
January 19Union Senior Center 6:30 PMBrian Wickline, 304-772-3003brian.wickline@mail.wvu.edu
Dr. Shaffer will discuss the concept of Value of Gain, how it is calculated and how it can be applied across different livestock enterprises.
Kevin Shaffer was raised on a family farm in north-central West Virginia raising commercial cattle. He earned a B.S., M.S. and Ph. D. in Animal Sciences from West Virginia University, specializing in ruminant nutrition and beef cattle management. Dr. Shaffer is an Extension Associate Professor with the WVUES and the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design. He serves as coordinator of the West Virginia Young Sire Evaluation Program, including the Wardensville and Southern Bull Test programs, WV Quality Assurance Feeder Cattle Marketing Program and teaches beef cattle management courses. Dr. Shaffer resides in Philippi, WV with his wife, Monica, two daughters, Avery and Ellie, and one son, Emmett. Together, they are managing a growing a livestock business.
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Making the Most out of Your Pasture - Quill Ward
January 23 Wayne Volunteer Fire Dept 6:00 PM Evan Wilson, 304-272-6839 jewilson@mail.wvu.edu
January 24 Jackson County Extesnion Office, Cottageville6:30 PM Ben Goff, 304-372-8199 bgoff3@mail.wvu.edu
January 25 Roane County Library, Spencer 6:30 PM Brandy Brabham, 304-927-0975 brandy.brabham@mail.wvu.edu
January 26 Fort Boreman Rm, Judge Black AnnexWoodCountyCourthouse 7:00 PMJJ Barrett, 304-424-1960 jj.barrett@mail.wvu.edu
In this presentation Quill Ward will discuss his trial and error throughout his extended grazing journey. He began researching extended grazing about ten years ago. Since then he has been able to extend grazing for his cattle for 300+ days.
Quill Ward is the sixth-generation agriculturalist to live and work on his family’s beef cattle operation. He owns and manages 280 cows, as well as 60 yearling heifers. He is a 2008 graduate of West Virginia University’s Davis College where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with an emphasis Animal Science. During his college career, he was member of WVU’s Alpha Gamma Rho, as well as Block and Bridle. Quill currently holds multiple board and leadership positions. He is the president of the West Virginia Cattlemen’s Association. He also serves as a board member for the Harrison County Farm Bureau and Harrison County Livestock Association. He continues to be involved with West Virginia University by serving as a board member for AGR’s housing committee. In 2012, Quill began experimenting with expanding grazing periods in his operation. Over the last 10 years, he has worked to further his education on grazing practices by attending many conferences and seminars with the end goal of finding the ideal method for his operation. While farming takes up a huge portion of his life, Quill's number one priority is spending quality time with his family. He and his wife of more than ten years, Robin Ward, have two children. Sallie, six years old, and Aquilla Ira, two years old.
Bale Grazing: Simple, Cheap, Effective Way to Winter Cattle - Greg Halich
March 6 Sleep Inn, 8 Walmart Dr, Moundsville
6:30 PMKaren Cox, 304-234-3673karen.cox@mail.wvu.edu
March 7West Milford Comm Bldg 6:30 PMJennifer Friend, 304-624-8650jefriend@mail.wvu.edu
March 8Camp Kidd 5:30 PMJesica Streets, 304-478-2949jesica.streets@mail.wvu.edu
March 9Core Community Center 6:00 PMBetsy Thomas, 304-291-7201betsy.thomas@mail.wvu.edu
Would you like to switch to a hay feeding system that cut your labor and tractor time in half? Would you like to switch to a hay feeding system that does away with the piles of concentrated manure, and instead evenly distributes it across pastures and hayfields? Bale grazing is a hay feeding system where hay is set out on pasture in good weather, and fed and controlled with temporary electric fencing, much like rotational grazing. Set up and executed well, it can easily cut your tractor and labor time by half or more, and can create lush, well-fertilized pastures without spending a cent on commercial fertilizers. If all this sounds too good to be true come join us to find out how these and additional benefits can be had by implementing bale grazing on your farm. The presenter, University of Kentucky agricultural economist Greg Halich has been bale grazing on his personal farm the last ten years and has worked with other cattle farms for the last six years to help them implement bale grazing.
Greg Halich is an Agricultural Economist at the University of Kentucky where he works with farmers to improve profitability on livestock and grain farms. Current production focus areas related to livestock are 1) determining the most profitable hay-feeding days for individual farms, 2) bale grazing (winter feeding technique that reduces machinery and labor and increases pasture fertility), 3) biological farming techniques that reduce or eliminate the need for commercial fertilizer inputs, 4) reducing hay production costs, and 5) extended season grazing systems. He lives and farms in southern Woodford County outside of Lexington Kentucky where he produces grass-finished beef and has been bale grazing for ten years.
Improving Pasture with Multi-Species Grazing –
Aaron Helmick
March 6 Brookdale Farm Wedding Barn, Fort Ashby6:00 PM Stacey Huffman, 304-788-3621 stacey.huffman@mail.wvu.edu
March 7 Augusta Firehall 6:00 PM Candace Delong, 304-822-5013 candace.delong@mail.wvu.edu
March 8 North Fork Ruritan 6:00 PM Brad Smith, 304-257-4688 brad.smith@mail.wvu.edu
March 9 WVU Kearneysville Tree Fruit EducationCenter,67Apple HarvestLn,Kearneysville 6:30 PMMary Beth Bennett, 304-264-1936mbbennett@mail.wvu.edu
Aaron will talk grazing cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs at scale, how to stack multiple species, and the effect of the grazing multiple species on water retention, solar collection by plants, drought resilience, economics and finance, and the changes that mat be expected in the landscape.
Aaron (43), Tara (29), Andrew(11), Lainey(8), Graham(6) and Emory (2.5) live on and operate Anathoth Livestock in Greenville WV. Both Aaron and Tara hold degrees from WVU, and Tara has a master of ag from WVU as well. The family is native to WV and operate a pasture based system with no hay making. The family is supported through farming/ranching = franching . The land base used to operate consists of 240 owned acres in partnership with the bank while 494 acres are rented. Currently the Helmick’s are operating 900 hair ewes, 1,500 feeder lambs, goats, broilers, pigs, custom grazing and a sell/buy enterprise. Production decisions are based on the family business vision and mission and economics as neither Aaron or Tara work off the farm. Tara is often bored, so she fills her spare time by home schooling their children.
Worms: An Unconventional Look at Parasites and Parasite Control in Cattle - Dr. Lowell Midla
March 6 Nicholas County Veterans Memorial Park4-HBuilding 5:30 PM Brian Sparks, 304-574-4234 or 304-872-7898brsparks@mail.wvu.edu
March 7 Marecer County 4-H Camp 5:30 PM Jodi Richmond, 304-425-3079 jodi.richmond@mail.wvu.edu
March 8 Summers County Memorial Bldg, Hinton 6:00 PMDavid Richmond, 304-255-9321david.richmond@mail.wvu.edu
This program will be an evidence based look at the diagnosis, treatment, and control of internal parasites in beef herds.
Dr. Midla was born and raised on a farm in southwestern Pennsylvania where his family raised registered Polled Hereford beef cattle. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988 and his V.M.D. (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine), also from Penn, in 1992.
Following graduation, Dr. Midla joined a mixed animal practice in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In 1994, he moved on to The Ohio State University where he completed a food animal medicine and surgery residency and simultaneously earned a master’s degree. His Master’s degree research focused on laminitis and lameness in dairy cattle. In 1996, Dr. Midla and his wife Joanne established a veterinary practice near Marianna, Pennsylvania. In the fall of 2001, he joined the faculty of The Ohio State University, practicing and teaching at the large animal ambulatory service in Marysville, Ohio. In 2016, he joined the cattle technical services team at Merck Animal Health.
Changing the Grazing Mentality: Learning to Treat Pasture as a Crop –
Ben Goff
March 13 Clinton Hedrick Community Building, Riverston 6:30 PM Brooke Alt, 304-358-2286 brooke.alt@mail.wvu.edu
March 14 Marlinton Municipal Building, 709 2ndAve,Marlinton,WV 6:00 PMGreg Hamons, 304-799-4852greg.hamons@mail.wvu.edu
March 15WVU Bldg, State Fairgrounds 6:30 PMJosh Peplowski, 304-647-7408joshua.peplowski@mail.wvu.edu
March 16Union Senior Center 6:30 PMBrian Wickline, 304-772-3003brian.wickline@mail.wvu.edu
Despite having the largest acreage of farmland devoted to its production across WV and the nation, many producers overlook the systematic management of pastures compared to other crops. This talk will discuss the most common overlooked management needs of pasture systems and provide several simple tips for changes producers may make to change the grazing mentality and increase profitability.
Ben Goff is originally from Grafton, WV and was raised on a small cattle farm. He earned is BS in Agronomy from West Virginia University in 2007 before continuing his education and earning his MS from Iowa State University in Crop Production & Physiology and his PhD from the University of Kentucky in Crop Science. Ben currently serves as the Agriculture & Natural Resource Agent for Mason and Putnam Counties. Before coming to WVU, Ben was an Assistant Professor at the University of Kentucky and taught courses on forage management and statistics, while conducting research on improving the utilization of forage legumes in various cropping systems.
High Tunnel Management, New Ideas for 2023 and Beyond – Lewis Jett
March 20 Cabell County 4-H Camp
6:00 PM Evan Wilson, 304-272-6839 jewilson@mail.wvu.edu
March 21 Roane County Library 6:30 PM Brandy Brabham, 304-927-0975 brandy.brabham@mail.wvu.edu
March 22 Tyler County Fairgrounds, Middlebourne 6:00 PM Julie Bolin, 304-758-2101 jabolin@mail.wvu.edu
March 23 Fort Boreman Rm, Judge Black AnnexWoodCountyCourthouse 7:00 PMJJ Barrett, 304-424-1960 jj.barrett@mail.wvu.edu
This presentation will provide new, up-to-date information for anyone interested in high tunnel crop production. New and more efficient ways to heat, cool, irrigate and fertilize will be discussed. In addition, new crops with high profit potential will be discussed. Producers will receive information which can improve efficiency of high tunnel specialty crop production and will be presented options for year-round specialty crop production using high tunnels in West Virginia.
Lewis Jett is the WVU Extension Horticulture Specialist. Dr. Jett is a native of West Virginia and works with commercial horticulture crop producers across West Virginia. His interest includes vegetables, fruits, herbs and native plants. A major focus of his research and outreach projects has been high tunnel crop management.
