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Be apart of the 2022 VFGC Winter Forage Conference by sponsoring the conference. Our 2022 winter forage conferences are scheduled for the following dates: January 18 – Wytheville, January 19 – Chatham, January 20 – Culpeper, and January 21 – Weyers Cave.  The theme for this year’s educational conferences is THE GREEN SIDE OF BEEF: In […]

This year’s winter forage conference series will explore and challenge the common claim that beef is bad for the planet. From issues like water quality to climate change, our speakers will show how well-managed grasslands can produce healthy meat and be part of the solution to the environmental issues we face. Nicolette Hahn Niman is a former vegetarian turned […]

The VFGC would like to feature more good photos from different farms around the state in the annual grazing calendar. To encourage you to send in your best photos, we have decided to have a contest. Who is eligible:  Anyone can submit a photo, but to win one of the prizes you have to be a […]

The USDA fact sheets described below were developed from a Conservation Innovation Grant with Virginia Tech titled, Demonstrating conversion of wildtype to novel endophyte fescue pastures for greater livestock performance and better environmental outcomes. Follow this link https://vaforages.org/resources/publications/ to the Publications tab to view the fact sheets and learn more about fescue toxicosis, fescue sampling, […]

Matt Booher, Rockingham County Extension Agent, has started a weekly digital forage mini-newsletter. If you would like to get on the email list to receive this, please contact Matt at mrbooher@vt.edu.  

Keith Tuck, Tuck Farms, Moneta VA Keith Tuck owns and operates a commercial cow-calf operation in an all grass production system. He typically carries 100 cow-calf pairs and develops about 15-20 replacement heifers. The farm is located just north of Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, VA, in southern Bedford County. Historically this had been a […]

Demonstrating conversion of tall fescue to native warm season grasses for greater livestock performance and better environmental outcomes Project Background While tall fescue (Schedonorous arundinaceus) is the predominant forage species in Virginia pasture systems, the species has limited productivity during the summer months. In addition, most of the tall fescue in Virginia is infected with […]

The Grazing School originally scheduled for May 12-13, 2020, in Glade Spring has to be cancelled for now due to the uncertain conditions regarding the Corona virus and the Governor’s stay at home order through June 10th.  Everyone who sent in registration checks will get refunded in full.  If possible we will try to reschedule […]

Please contact John Fike at jfike@vt.edu or Gabriel Pent at gpent@vt.edu regarding these events. Are you interested in starting a pasture-finished beef operation or improving your existing forage-finished beef operation? If so, consider attending one of the upcoming Pasture-Finished Beef Production Meetings held at three convenient locations around Virginia. These workshops are part of a […]

Sign up now for the 2020 Novel Tall Fescue Renovation Workshop hosted by Virginia Tech and the Alliance for Grassland Renewal. Remember when Dr. Dan Undersander reminded us of the danger of being penny wise and pound foolish at the 2020 VFGC winter conferences? Specifically, Dr. Undersander mentioned how novel endophyte tall fescue can often […]