"Building Profitable Grazing Systems" is the theme of two conferences to be held in January for forage and livestock producers and sponsored by Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Forage and Grassland Council.

Nationally recognized speakers will help producers learn how to ensure that their grazing systems provide a profitable return on investment. The conferences will be held Jan. 19 at the Southern Piedmont Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Blackstone and Jan. 20 at the New River Community College in Dublin. Registration for both will begin at 8:15 a.m. and the program will end at 3:30 p.m.

Kit Pharo, a dynamic speaker and rancher from Colorado, will provide a detailed look at what it means to manage a cow herd for profit. Pharo says his early years at ranching taught him that he should have listened to his Dad. After trying to maximize production, "I learned that increasing production wasn't nearly as important as increasing profits…Optimum production is always much more profitable than maximum production, and profit is what we really want to maximize."

His plan to achieve optimum production is based on two additional concepts: Fit the production management system to the environment instead of artificially changing the environment to fit your plans; and stay focused on the desirability of the end product; it must meet established beef-industry requirements.

Don Ball, principle author of Southern Forages and Extension forage agronomist from Auburn University, will look at the consequences of relying on stored feed. His work has given him a unique perspective on how to keep animals grazing as long as possible while minimizing stored feed requirements. Ball's plan lowers labor inputs, reduces the concentration of nutrients from animal waste in feeding areas, improves forage quality of pasture as compared to stored feed, and increases profits. His strategies for reducing stored-feed usage require consideration of geographic region, farming operation, climate, and many other factors. Key management concepts he will present are: how to manage and integrate; growth distribution differences among forage species; timing fertilizer applications; forage stockpiling; and lowering storage and feeding losses.

Jim Green, Extension forage specialist from North Carolina, will address how water and fencing are the two most overlooked and important inputs to a cattle operation. He says quality and profitable forage systems are built first on cost-effective ways of controlling animals and providing them a reliable, abundant, and quality source of water. His perspective on low-cost watering and fencing systems is a direct outgrowth of years of research and extension work designing, implementing, and observing grazing systems across the United States.

Gordon Groover, Virginia Tech Extension Economist, farm management, will lead a session on, "What's the value of a ton of hay?" Groover says the well-reasoned answer is, "It depends." He will show producers how the factors that influence "it depends" are critical to a profitable cattle operation. Groover also will discuss the boundaries between unprofitable and profitable decisions, such as owning hay equipment, buying hay, and stockpiling.

The conference has received significant support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency.

The cost for VFGC members who register before Jan. 12 is $10 and $35 for non-members. Registration at the door is $25 for VFGC members and $50 for non-members.

For additional information contact Margaret Kenny, at makenny@vt.edu or phone (434) 292-5331 ext. 240 or fax: (434) 292-5623.

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