Twelve-Month Livestock Pasture-Forage Management Planning Course Set for January

A course on 12-month pasture-forage management planning will be offered Tuesday through Thursday, Jan. 2-4, 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 participants are encouraged to register as soon as possible by calling (701) 483-2185. The cost for producers is $87 ($41.29 registration, $25 application fee, and $20.71 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 $20.71 laboratory fee. The text for the course will cost $20. Continuing Education graduate credit is also available for the course from North Dakota State University.

The course will be conducted 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. (MST) on Jan. 2, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Jan. 3, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Jan. 4.

"Students in the course will develop a 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 rangeland scientist 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 participants to understand and operate their 12-month range management plan."

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, by-products as feed, winter rations, and the development of 12-month management plans.

Other instructors are Kevin Sedivec, NDSU Extension range management specialist, Toby Stroh, DSU assistant professor of agriculture, and Greg Lardy, NDSU Extension beef specialist. The course is offered by the DSU agricultural department in cooperation with NDSU animal and range sciences department and the NDSU Dickinson Research Extension Center.

Participants will need to prepare a complete set of maps and provide copies of aerial photos for their entire land holdings, including owned and leased land, and calculate the average of each parcel of land and forage type prior to the start of the course. Pens, pencils, note paper, and a calculator will be needed for the course.

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Source: Lee Manske (701) 483-2076
Editor: Tom Jirik (701) 231-9629