Sustainable Year-Round Forage Production and Grazing/Browsing Management Education Program

Sustainable Year-Round Forage Production and Grazing/Browsing Management Education Program

Uma Karki, Lila Karki, Nar Gurung, Rocky Lemus³, Steve Hart⁴, Kenneth Cearley⁵, Stephen Enloe⁶, Eddie Jolley⁷, and Misty Edmonson⁶

¹Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL; ²PadmaDal Memorial Foundation, Auburn, AL; ³Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS; ⁴ Langston University, Langston, OK; ⁵Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Amarillo, TX; ⁶Auburn University, Auburn, AL; ⁷Natural Resources Conservation Service, Auburn, AL

Abstract Text:

Pasture-based goat production is becoming popular among the small-scale livestock farmers in the Southern Region. However, most farmers have not adopted sustainable forage programs. As a result, they depend on hay and supplementary feedstuff to sustain their herd during times of reduced forage availability. Moreover, there is not much information available on pasture development/improvement and sustainable grazing/browsing management for goats. The goal of this project was to develop a comprehensive education program to increase the productivity, quality, and production duration of pastures as well as to improve the management of existing pastures for sustainable goat production. Project objectives were: 1) to develop training curricula and 2) to train field-level extension and technical assistance personnel and goat farmers on sustainable year-round forage production and grazing/browsing management. Tuskegee University and PadmaDal Memorial Foundation were collaborating in this project. Other key partners in the project were Alabama Natural Resources Conservation Service, Auburn University, Mississippi State University, Langston University, and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. The project outputs were 1) ready- to-use training curricula in the form of a handbook - sustainable year-round forage production and grazing/browsing management for goats in the Southern Region, which is now freely available to the public at Tuskegee University website: http://www.tuskegee.edu/sites/www/Uploads/files/About%20US/TUCEP/Livestock%20Program/Year- RoundPasture_Handbook.pdf , 2) an educational video to complement the handbook (under review), and 3) trained field-level extension and technical-assistance personnel and extension specialists (22) serving the goat producers in different Southern States and lead goat farmers (4). Short-term impact results showed 29 percent increase in the knowledge of trainees. The medium-term impact results revealed that majority of the trainees applied the learned skills and knowledge either to educate their clientele more effectively (professionals) or improve their farm operation (farmers).

Keywords: Curricula, Goats, Training