A periodic email sent
to forage producers and industry professionals.
Dr. Dennis Hancock, Forage Extension Specialist, University of Georgia
Here are some HOT TOPICS and happenings on www.GeorgiaForages.com:
- - New Look for GeorgiaForages.com Updates
- - Latest! – Georgia Forage News
- - Upcoming! – Georgia Grazing School (and Deep South Stocker Conference)
- - My Latest Trip
- - Potential Trip to New Zealand and Australia
- - Now Open! – 2013 Southeastern Hay Contest
- - Now Open! – 2013 Georgia Forages Photo Contest
- - Upcoming! – Meeting Dates to Circle on Your Calendar
New Look for GeorgiaForages.com Updates
The last GF Update was sent via
MailChimp, an online email blast service. I received a lot of positive feedback
on the new format. I hope it makes the emails I send easier to read and
navigate. If your email system doesn’t allow html emails, you can still click
the link to view this email in plain text.
Latest! – Georgia Forage News
University of Georgia Extension has
some of the best Extension Agents in the U.S.! Some of the best examples can be
found on our Forage Extension Team. They have co-written a newsletter series
entitled Georgia Forage News. The latest edition (their second) addresses three
major topics: 1) the bermudagrass stem maggot, 2) forage testing, and 3)
harvest timing for corn silage. This is an outstanding newsletter! See: http://bit.ly/125doAy.
Upcoming! – Georgia Grazing School (and Deep South Stocker Conference)
The Georgia Grazing School returns!
Last year, we were unable to make the Grazing School work because of variety of
logistic and funding issues. This year, WE ARE BACK!!! and better than ever! In
fact, this year, we have an extra-special treat.
Georgia splits hosting duties for
the Deep South Stocker Conference with Mississippi and Alabama. This year, it
is Georgia’s turn and we are planning on holding the 2013 Grazing School (August
7-8) in conjunction with the Deep South Stocker Conference (August 8-9)! This
allows us to keep our costs low, do more hands-on programs, AND bring in some
additional experts from around the country. Some examples include: 1) more
extensive field exercises with sizing and allotting pasture for break-feeding;
2) a tour of UGA’s new Forage Garden, a display of the many and varied forages
that can be grown in Georgia; 3) the latest developments in the world of
fencing, waterers, and pesticides; 4) a detailed fencing demonstration; 5) a
look inside respiratory disease with a close-up examination of the effect it
can have on lung and respiratory capacity; and 6) stockmanship and stewardship
demonstrations by Curt Pate, one of the world’s leading trainers in safe and
effective cattle handling. I just can’t tell you how excited I am to see this
program come together!
For those who haven’t had a chance
to attend one of our Grazing Schools… You REALLY NEED TO COME! The Georgia
Grazing School is a two-day workshop that focuses on the benefits of
management-intensive grazing. Training will take place in both classroom and
field settings. We cover the system comprehensively, approaching from an
understanding of soil fertility, forage crop selection/establishment, utilizing
and optimizing plant growth, how to match animal nutrient needs with forage
quality provided, and how the grazing system design can have an effect on all
these elements.
The program costs $150 and includes
lunches and breaks on each day, a nice dinner at the end of the program, a
grazing school handbook, and a forage and weed ID handbook. For more
information about this program, check out the Grazing School’s webpage here: http://bit.ly/125fxMw. Registration will be
available online within the next few days, and I’ll send a separate
announcement about that in the coming days.
My Latest Trip
If you are really a lover of forage
management and are really into pasture-based livestock systems, then you’ll
appreciate the enormity of my most recent trip… a trip to New Zealand! New
Zealand is a small island nation in the South Pacific whose economy is
extremely dependent upon their ability to efficiently and cost-effectively
raise livestock on pasture. And they’ve gotten extremely good at it. In fact,
they provide a lot of the most common pasture-based livestock technologies that
we use today, including everything from electric fencing to animal genetics!
To tell you why I was in New
Zealand recently, I need to give you a bit of backstory. Over the past 3 years,
I have been cultivating several relationships with New Zealand agribusiness and
trade authorities. Georgia has developed quite a reputation throughout the
world (and especially in New Zealand) as a real “hot-spot” for growth in
pasture-based livestock systems in general and dairying in particular. My
networking has primarily been with the NZ Agribusiness Centre (a consortium of
a diverse set of kiwi agribusiness) and NZ Trade & Enterprise (somewhat
analogous to our U.S. Commerce Department).
My relationship with them has matured
into a potential economic development opportunity for Georgia. Back in early
May, I teamed up with Georgia’s Center for Innovation for Agribusiness and
organized a program in Augusta and Waynesboro that highlights the opportunities
for pasture-based livestock systems in Georgia and the Southeast. We connected
the CEOs or representatives of approximately 9 major NZ companies with
Georgia’s Department of Economic Development and the local development
authorities in that region. These companies have already decided to expand
their business into North, Central, and South America and are currently deciding
on whether to locate those jobs in Georgia or in one other state. Our goal is
to get those jobs here! Only time will tell if our “sales pitch” was effective,
but pasture-based livestock production in Georgia and the SE U.S. was
definitely of key interest to them when I made my recent return trip to NZ. I
think we made an overwhelming case to support these jobs coming to Georgia! I’m
anxious to see it come to fruition.
Potential Trip to New
Zealand and Australia
A few months back, I mentioned my
desire to take a group of producers and ag industry service providers on a trip
to New Zealand in September. While in New Zealand earlier this month, I had the
great opportunity to begin to finalize an AgriTour there.
We are still working out the
details, but the plan is to arrive in Auckland, NZ on Monday September 9th
and tour Auckland, Hamilton and the Waikato Region (the center of the major
pasture-based livestock industries in NZ), Rotorua (a site of several
interesting items of agritourism interest and one of the major cultural centers
of New Zealand’s indigenous peoples, the Maori), and a few other tourist
attractions. The AgriTour will conclude on Saturday, September 14th.
More details on this trip, the
cost, and travel information will be forthcoming in a couple more weeks
(hopefully). Until then, go make sure your passport is current or if you don’t
have one, begin the process of getting one. This AgriTour will be an incredible
adventure. Trust me… you are going to want to be on this trip!
Now Open! - 2013 Southeastern Hay Contest
Just a
reminder!!! Enter your hay or baleage samples into the 2013 Southeastern Hay
Contest and compete with other Southeastern producers for the title of Best in
Class! For more information about the contest, including a link to the rules
and entry form, visit: http://bit.ly/WBJlza.
Now Open! - 2013 Georgia
Forages Photo Contest
Just a
reminder!!! Enter your forage photos into the 2013 Georgia Forages Photo
Contest (see: http://bit.ly/WBJyCu.) The
purpose of the contest is to recognize, through photography, the multi-faceted
uses of forages in Georgia. This contest is open to anyone who would like to
share their photos with the Georgia Forages community. There is no entry fee
for participating in this contest. Entrants can submit color digital photo
files to Dr. Dennis Hancock, UGA Forage Extension Specialist by merely emailing
the entry to Dr. Hancock. The entry form used last year is NOT needed. However,
Dr. Hancock will follow up with you after receiving the photo to confirm entry
and obtain any further information.
Entries will be placed into one of
six categories. The photo categories include:
a.
Harvested Forages
b.
Grazing
c.
Education
d.
Wildlife and Conservation
e.
Troubleshooting (e.g., nutrient deficiencies, diseases,
etc.)
f.
Open
Entries must be received by October
1st. Winners will be selected by the UGA Forage Extension Agent Team
and will be announced on October 15th, at the beginning of the
Sunbelt Ag Expo. Certificates will be awarded for the best photos. The top 3
photos in each category will be enlarged and displayed at the Sunbelt Ag Expo
at the “Ask the Expert” booth in the Livestock Pavilion. Photo entries will
also be posted to a website for public viewing. Entrants do not have to attend
the Expo to participate in the Photo Contest.
Credit will be given to the photographer
and the photographer will retain all rights to their entry (i.e., for sale,
duplication, or use other than publicly displaying the entry for the purposes
of the contest).
Upcoming! – Meeting Dates to Circle on Your Calendar
There are
several meetings coming up in the next few weeks and months that I want to make
sure you have on your calendar. Here are the dates/times, meeting name, and
location. For more, see: http://bit.ly/ZoXnVI.
Sunbelt Ag Expo Field Day
Jul. 11, 7:15 a.m - Lunch | Sunbelt Agricultural Expo |
Moultrie, GA
Hay Day (hay equipment demonstration day)
Aug. 6 | Lamar Co.
Georgia Grazing School
August 7-8 | Watkinsville, GA
Deep South Stocker Conference
Aug. 8-9 | Watkinsville, GA
22nd International Grassland Congress
Sep. 15-19, 2013 | Sydney, Australia
SE Hay Contest
Oct. 15-17, 2013 | in Conjunction with the Sunbelt
Agricultural Expo | Moultrie, GA
Sunbelt Agricultural Expo's: Forage-Based Livestock
Management Seminars, and “Ask the Expert” Booths
Oct. 15-17, 2013 | Moultrie, GA
If you have a forage-related question, check out our website
at www.georgiaforages.com, talk
with your county Extension Agent by dialing 1-800-ASK-UGA1, or send an email to
me at dhancock@uga.edu.
Regards,
Dennis W. Hancock, PhD
Forage Extension Specialist
Forage Extension Specialist
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