UK, Forage Group To Host Western Kentucky Summer Forage Tour
Hereford cattle at Dogwood Farm graze a red clover-crabgrass mixture with a little johnsongrass. Species like
crabgrass and johnsongrass are considered weeds in row crops but are valuable summer forages in pastures.
Photo by Chris Teutsch, UK forage extension specialist
PRINCETON, KY.
The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service and the Kentucky Forage and Grassland Council are hosting a Western Kentucky Summer Forage Tour for producers in the region. Participants will learn how they can successfully incorporate warm-season grasses into their grazing systems and extend their grazing season. The tour is Aug. 7 at Dogwood Farm in LaCenter in Ballard County.
During the event, participants will tour the farm, which is owned and operated by Toby and Debby Dulworth. The Dulworths run about 300 head of Hereford cattle. Over the years, they have implemented innovative grazing techniques, so the herd is raised entirely on pasture. The Dulworths have direct marketed their local, grass-finished beef since 2003, and it is now the farm’s major enterprise.
Event participants will visit a landscape-scale demonstration that features 12 warm-season annual grasses and mixtures, see how improved crabgrass varieties work on Dogwood Farm, tour a 30-year-old eastern gamagrass stand, learn about fencing and watering improvements and hear how the farm finishes and markets beef on an all-forage diet.
This program is part of the UK Grain and Forage Center of Excellence’s commitment to give forage and livestock producers the timely, research-based information they need to improve their operations.
“This year’s tour features an innovative grazing operation that has implemented rotational stocking, uses novel forages for both summer and winter months and has selected animals that perform well in their all forage environment,” said Chris Teutsch, UK extension forage specialist at the center which is a part of the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. “This will be the forage field day of the year.”
Preregistration for the tour is required. Participants can register online at https://westernkyforageday.eventbrite.com or contact Christi Forsythe at 270-365-7541, ext. 221. The cost to attend is $10 payable on the day of the event.
More information and directions to the farm are available on the UK forages extension website at http://forages.ca.uky.edu/. ∆