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This tour features a large cow-calf operation that has made dramatic improvements in the quality and length of their grazing season through grazing management as well as conversion of toxic fescue to novel fescue–all on rented ground. See how they’ve used high-tensile electric fencing, central watering points, and basic grazing management to quit haymaking, become […]

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 […]

Join us to explore a successful silvopasture where timber and cattle are managed together for profit, wildlife habitat, and resource conservation. We will also look at summer stockpiling for early fall grazing, as well as intensive grazing management strategies. The first stop on our tour features Holsinger Homeplace Farms, a bicentennial family farm in Broadway […]

The Virginia Forage and Grassland Council has partnered with the American Farmland Trust and the Mountains to the Bay Grazing Alliance to bring the professional Ranching for Profit Workshops to the heart of Virginia.  Ranching for Profit workshops were first taught in the US by Stan Parsons in 1983. Since that time thousands of ranchers have […]

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.  

Timely Information for Livestock Producers Friday, April 24, 2020 Friday, May 8, 2020 Friday, May 22, 2020 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. Livestock Webinar Series Flier 4-24-20

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 […]