Posts by makenny

By: JB Daniel, USDA-NRCS State Grazing Specialist Jerry and Judy Ingle partnered with the Black Diamond RC&D, the local Extension agent along with the Soil and Water District and NRCS to host an educational meeting emphasizing the practice of stockpiling and strip-grazing fescue over the winter. The event was held on February 19, 2019 and began with 33 participants attending […]

David Allen Fiske, (age 59) of Steeles Tavern Virginia died unexpectedly from a sudden illness on Friday, November 16, 2018. He was born on September 14, 1959 in Charlottesville Virginia. David spent his younger years on the family farm and surrounding community near Aldie, Virginia. David was a loving son, brother, uncle, dedicated agriculturalist, community volunteer and caring friend to […]

Stockpiling fescue in late summer and fall offers a great opportunity to extend the grazing season well past our growing season and decrease your hay feeding days. As you know, winter feed costs are the largest expense item in the annual operating budget for a commercial cow-calf operation.  Many farmers over the years have learned to stockpile fescue in the […]

The grazing demonstration hosted at Ronnie Nuckols Farm as part of the Conservation Innovation Grant between VFGC and USDA-NRCS is now complete. The detailed case study summary report titled: Using Annual Forages and Improved Grazing Management to Build Soil Health and Improve System Performance, is available for download as a PDF document below. This report details how Ronnie collaborated with […]

Bellevue Farm Charles and Robert Drumheller Bellevue Farm was honored by the Virginia Forage and Grassland Council (VFGC) as the 2018 Outstanding Forage Producer of the Year. The farm is located in Swoope, within the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. It is owned and operated by Charles and Robert Drumheller, whose family has owned the farm since the mid-1900s. Charles took […]

John Fant, Colonel, US Army (Ret), returned to southwest Virginia in 2013 after a career in the military to resume the daily operations and management of the family farm. Watch this short video as John explains the challenges and opportunities he faced returning to the farm, assessing its resources then developing and implementing a plan that would make it profitable […]

Tim Tobin, of Swallow Hill Farm in Woodford, VA, is a farm demonstration cooperator with the Virginia Forage and Grassland Council as part of a USDA- NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant project. Tim will be speaking next week at the VFGC Conference in Madison, presenting a project summary on how he has used specific forage species and improved grazing management practices […]

Pasture Walk August 17, 2017 Demonstrating conversion of wildtype to novel endophyte fescue pastures for greater livestock performance and better environmental outcomes Tall fescue compared to a highly productive summer annual mix in neighboring field after 30 days of no rain. A variety of summer annuals have been donated by Halifax SWCD, Dodd’s Farm Supply, King’s Agriseeds, and CPS-South Hill […]

The Virginia Forage and Grassland Council is excited to present a short video highlighting Ronnie Nuckols discussing his journey as a grazing demonstration cooperator over the last few years. In this video, “A Step by Step Approach to Building Pasture Productivity and Soil Health,” Ronnie explains where he started, the challenge to change, how he transitioned to grazing management and […]

Maximizing animal performance on pastures in summer is a game of minimizing stresses and putting the best bite of forage possible in front of the animal. Join us to learn about summer grazing strategies, herd health, forage management, and more. $5 /person payable at the door, but must RSVP by Friday, Aug. 11 to reserve your dinner Augusta Extension Office, 540-245-5750, mrbooher@vt.edu […]