Events

Join us for the 2019 Heart of America Conference -- Kicking the Hay Habit: Optimizing Profitability.  The keynote speaker, Jim Gerrish, is an independent grazing lands consultant providing services to farmers and ranchers on both private and public lands across five continents. With a BS in Agronomy from the University of Illinois and MS in Crop Ecology from University of Kentucky, he served 22 years of beef-forage systems research and outreach while on the faculty of the University of Missouri-Forage Systems Research Center (FSRC). His research encompassed many aspects of plant-soil-animal interactions and provided the foundation for many of the basic principles of Management-intensive Grazing. He was also a co-founder of the very popular 3-day grazing management workshop at FSRC. Aside from his monthly column in The Stockman Grass-Farmer magazine for over 12 years, Gerrish has authored two books on grazing and ranch management – “Management-intensive Grazing: The Grassroots of Grass Farming” published in 2004 and “Kick the Hay Habit: A Practical Guide to Year-Round Grazing” published in 2010. Today, he is an instructor in the University of Idaho’s Lost River Grazing Academy held twice annually near Salmon, ID. He typically speaks at 40 to 50 producer-oriented workshops, seminars, and field days around the US and Canada each year.

Register online at:  https://2019hoa.eventbrite.com

---

Join us for the 2019 Western Grazing Conference -- Reducing Hay Feeding & Optimizing Profitability.   The keynote speaker, Jim Gerrish, is an independent grazing lands consultant providing services to farmers and ranchers on both private and public lands across five continents. With a BS in Agronomy from the University of Illinois and MS in Crop Ecology from University of Kentucky, he served 22 years of beef-forage systems research and outreach while on the faculty of the University of Missouri-Forage Systems Research Center (FSRC). His research encompassed many aspects of plant-soil-animal interactions and provided the foundation for many of the basic principles of Management-intensive Grazing. He was also a co-founder of the very popular 3-day grazing management workshop at FSRC. Aside from his monthly column in The Stockman Grass-Farmer magazine for over 12 years, Gerrish has authored two books on grazing and ranch management – “Management-intensive Grazing: The Grassroots of Grass Farming” published in 2004 and “Kick the Hay Habit: A Practical Guide to Year-Round Grazing” published in 2010. Today, he is an instructor in the University of Idaho’s Lost River Grazing Academy held twice annually near Salmon, ID. He typically speaks at 40 to 50 producer-oriented workshops, seminars, and field days around the US and Canada each year.

Register online at: https://2019wkygrazingconference.eventbrite.com

 

Agenda for October 31, 2019

7:30   Registration Opens (Sponsors and Silent Auction)

8:15    Welcome

8:30    Kicking the Hay Habit - Jim Gerrish, American GrazingLands Services, LLC

9:30    Livestock Genetics for Extended Grazing Systems –  Gordon Jones, Red Hill Farms

10:00   Break, Silent Auction and Visit with Sponsors

10:30   How Many Days to Graze? - Greg Halich, UK

11:15   Innovations in Livestock Fencing - Mark Harris / Sarah Adams, Gallagher

12:00   Lunch and Visit with Sponsors

1:00     Hay Storage and Feeding: Avoiding Train Wrecks – Jeff Lehmkuhler, UK

1:45     Summer Stockpiling: Thinking Outside of the Box – Chris Teutsch, UK

2:15      Extending Grazing on my Farm - Producer Speaker  

2:35      Break

2:45      Forage Research Updates: Converting High Quality Forage into Baleage – Jimmy Henning, UK; Applying KY Dairy Forage Research for Beef Producers – Ray Smith, UK

3:15    Practical considerations for extended grazing systems –  Jim Gerrish, American GrazingLands Services, LLC

4:00     Surveys and Adjourn

---

Dogwood Farm

2492 South Kirkman Road

LaCenter, KY 42056

 

Registration at 1pm, tour 2pm-6pm

 

Dogwood Farm, owned and operated by Toby and Debby Dulworth since 1977, is located in Ballard County, Kentucky, between the communities of Bandana and Oscar. Dulworth ancestors have farmed in this area since 1897.  Since its beginning, the DWF cow herd has grazed pasture without supplemental grain, expanding from three head in 1964 to about 300 head today. In 1989, adaptive multi-paddock grazing began, to allow pastures ample rest between grazing periods.  Come take a walk with the Dulworths to hear what has and hasn't worked at DWF along with the whys as interpreted by Jim Gerrish.

 

Jim Gerrish is an independent grazing lands consultant providing services to farmers and ranchers on both private and public lands across five continents. With a BS in Agronomy from the University of Illinois and MS in Crop Ecology from University of Kentucky, he served 22 years of beef-forage systems research and outreach while on the faculty of the University of Missouri-Forage Systems Research Center (FSRC). His research encompassed many aspects of plant-soil-animal interactions and provided the foundation for many of the basic principles of Management-intensive Grazing. He was also a co-founder of the very popular 3-day grazing management workshop at FSRC. Aside from his monthly column in The Stockman Grass-Farmer magazine for over 12 years, Gerrish has authored two books on grazing and ranch management – “Management-intensive Grazing: The Grassroots of Grass Farming” published in 2004 and “Kick the Hay Habit: A Practical Guide to Year-Round Grazing” published in 2010. Today, he is an instructor in the University of Idaho’s Lost River Grazing Academy held twice annually near Salmon, ID. He typically speaks at 40 to 50 producer-oriented workshops, seminars, and field days around the US and Canada each year.
​

Directions:

From Paducah, KY, take I-24 to Exit 4 onto US-60 West. Travel on US-60 for approximately 20 miles.  Turn right on KY-310 North (Broadway in LaCenter) and travel about 2.6 miles, turning left onto South Kirkman Road. Travel, a total of about 2.5 miles from the beginning of Kirkman, ignore your GPS at Berry Road, drive past the T and the s-curve, and watch for the Dogwood Farm sign about a mile further on your right.  

From Wickliffe, KY – Take US-60 East toward Barlow, KY 6 miles.  Turn right onto Broadway/60 and go 2 blocks. Turn left onto KY-1105 for approximately 9.8 miles.  Turn right onto South Kirkman Road and travel approximately 0.5 miles. The Dogwood Farm sign will be on your left.

 

Registration TBD

---