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Grazing Project Updates
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Sample Grazing Plan
:
 Greetings
to all those, urban and rural, interested in agriculture! My
name is Haly Schultz and I am the Grazing Specialist for Town
and Country RC&D.
My educational background in
agriculture includes receiving my undergraduate degree in Animal
Science from UW-River Falls in 2001 and then attending graduate
school at Colorado State University, where I focused my studies
on rangeland management and beef cattle production. I joined
the U.S. Peace Corps in 2003 and was sent to a small country
in southern Africa called Lesotho. There I worked as an agriculture
volunteer with the non-profit organization Lesotho Save the
Children. I have also worked for several ranches and farms,
large and small, throughout Wisconsin and the western U.S. In
the future, my husband and I hope to return to his family farm
in central Wisconsin to raise grass-fed beef.
The grazing specialist position
for Town and Country RC&D is being funded through a Grazing
Lands Conservation Initiative grant. I will be working in collaboration
with other grazing specialists and agriculture agencies in Southeast
Wisconsin. My work will be focused on 1) providing technical
assistance to farmers wishing to convert to or update their
management intensive grazing systems, and 2) educating both
rural and urban groups on the benefits of grazing and grass-fed
products. The main focus of my work will be on dairy, beef,
and poultry producers in the Town and Country area, but I encourage
anyone with grazing questions to feel free to contact me. I
am truly passionate about seeing livestock flourish on grass
and helping farmers obtain economical and environmental sustainability.
Interested individuals can visit my office in Suite 3200 of
the Washington County Public Agency Center in West Bend, Wisconsin,
call 262-335-4808, or email haly.schultz@rcdnet.net. |
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Activity Reports: |
“Who Wants to be a Millionaire in the
Dairy Business?”
March 21, 2007, Watertown, Wisconsin
This was a one-day workshop for dairy farmers
put on by Town and Country RC&D with assistance from Grassworks,
Inc., and Badgerland Farm Credit Services. A total of 52 people
attended the event which was held at the Watertown Senior and
Community Center. Main speakers at the workshop were Larry Tranel,
Dairy Field Specialist for Iowa State University Extension and
Dan Truttmann, dairy farmer from New Glarus, Wisconsin.
Larry Tranel spoke on how to keep and analyze
farm financial records in order to make better management decisions
and he presented his Dairy-Trans® Financial Management Software
program as a tool for this purpose. Larry also spoke in depth
about installing low-cost parlors (parlors retrofitted into
existed buildings) and labor-efficient facilities. The benefits
to dairy farmers of implementing cross-breeding, management
intensive grazing, and modified/complete seasonal calving were
also presented by Larry. Find information on Larry Tranel’s
software and on each of the topics he discussed at:
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/dubuque/staff/tranel.htm
Dan Truttmann spoke about his family’s dairy farm and
his experiences with the Dairy Trans® software program.
The Truttmann farm consists of 200 acres of pasture and 150
acres of crop and hay land. Dan’s family practices seasonal
calving, management intensive grazing, and crossbreeding; they
milk 175 dairy cows in the summer and 75 cows in the winter.
Dan has been a profitable grazier for 13 + years. The main reasons
why he grazes his dairy cattle are:
1. When he was just starting out in farming, by grazing his
dairy cattle and allowing them to harvest their own feed,
he could invest in growing the herd first without having to
invest in expensive facilities and equipment.
2. Increased Profitability
3. Labor Efficiency
4. Animal Health benefits
5. Land Conservation (Less soil erosion vs. row crops)
6. Producing a Quality Product
A great lunch was provided by Karlen Catering of Brownsville
“Thank-you” to all attendees, volunteers, and sponsors!
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