Posts by makenny

On-line Registration is Closed!! The 2020 Winter Forage Conferences will be held January 21 thru 24, 2020 at various locations across Virginia. The 2020 theme will be Thinking Strategically: The Role of Hay in Today’s Grazing System The Keynote Speakers will be: Kevin Yon. Yon Family Farms of Ridge Spring, SC is a family-owned operation consisting of Kevin and Lydia […]

Gabriel Pent has been named superintendent of Virginia Tech’s Shenandoah Valley Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Raphine, Virginia. The Florida native has lived in Blackstone for the past two years. Pent brings extensive knowledge of agricultural research and Extension programming, including expertise in reducing livestock heat stress through silvopasture and alternative forages, the use of technologies to identify animal […]

The school will be led by forage specialists from the NRCS & Virginia Cooperative Extension. We will also be joined by , Dr. Tom Griggs, forage specialist with WVU. Tom has spent his career working with grazing-focused producers across the U.S. “This school is designed for experienced managers seeking to better understand advanced forage management concepts and  intensify their grazing […]

Dr. Kathryn Payne has accepted the position to become the Applied Forage Systems Specialist at the Virginia Tech Southern Piedmont Agricultural Research and Extension Center (SPAREC).  Katie’s appointment was effective July 1, 2019. Dr. Payne completed a BS degree in Soil Science, with an emphasis in Watershed Management, from West Virginia University.  She earned a MS degree in Crop and […]

As a farmer in Virginia and a VFGC member, I’m sure you met David Fiske. Over the last 18 years, David served as a dedicated Board member of the VFGC and Superintendent of the Shenandoah Valley Agricultural Research and Extension Center. So many of us benefitted from David’s service and dedication to Virginia agriculture as participants in research farm tours, […]

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 […]