NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
December 9, 1999
A course on 12-month pasture-forage management will be offered Tuesday through Thursday, Jan. 4-6 on the campus of Dickinson State University.
The course is for livestock producers and students who want to learn more about developing ranch management plans. Space is limited, so register as soon as possible by calling (701) 483-2185. The cost for producers is $39.70 registration, $25 application fee and $20 laboratory fee. College students attending will receive one college credit from DSU or North Dakota State University, and the cost of the course will be included in their regular tuition fees, plus a $20 laboratory fee. A text for the course will cost $20.
The course will be conducted from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. MST on Jan. 4, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Jan. 5, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Jan. 6.
"Students in the course will develop a working grassland management strategy for their ranch which will provide the forage needs for their livestock for a full 12-month period," says Lee Manske, an NDSU range management researcher and one of the course instructors. "The course will also provide basic information and principles on range ecology, livestock nutrition and forage production that will permit the participants to understand and operate their 12-month ranch management plan."
Manske notes that agricultural production from rangeland can be substantially increased without sacrificing non-agricultural benefits by implementing management strategies that take into account range ecosystems and processes while capturing available nutrients.
A team of instructors for the course will lead discussions and explain basic principles and concepts of land and resource inventories, rangeland ecosystems, grass growth, effects from defoliation, livestock nutritional requirements, nutritional value curves of forage plants, grazing systems, economics of systems, production of annual forages, byproducts as feed, winter rations and the development of 12-month management plans. Additional instructors are Greg Lardy, NDSU Extension beef specialist; Toby Stroh, DSU assistant professor of agriculture; and Kevin Sedivec, NDSU range scientist.
The course is offered by the DSU agricultural department in cooperation with the NDSU animal and range sciences department and the NDSU Dickinson Research Extension Center.
###
Source: Lee Manske (701) 483-2076
Editor: Tom Jirik (701) 231-9629