Pasture Training

Pasture Ecology Training

Being a pathways Intern means endless hours of training and learning the job of planning conservation practices on the land. One of the most interesting trainings I have had the opportunity to take was Pastureland Ecology II. This training was an in depth look at raising organic dairy cows on pasture instead of a feed lot environment.

There are many moving parts in an organic dairy that uses pasture to feed the herd of dairy cows. Things to consider are:

• Pasture Condition
• Animal Condition
• Animal Type
• Balancing Diet
• Grazing
• Agricultural Waste Management
• Nutrient Management
• Fencing and Watering
• Animal trails
• Shade
• Milking
• Breeding

This system is interconnected, each part is complex upon itself and when you produce a systems map each part needs to be in balance with the others so that the system runs smoothly. If one part of the system fails it can bring the operation to a halt.

Studying this subject at the University of New Hampshire in Durham for a week with experts in the field is one of the reasons I love my job and appreciate the opportunities I have been given as a Pathways Intern.

Bedded Pack Facility

Agricultural Waste Management

The Bedded Pack Facility is a newer technology designed to over winter dairy cows. It is not a barn but is categorized as a waste management facility. A secondary feature is that it provides protection from the elements. Everyone now’s that a happy dairy cow gives more lbs. of milk (4%) per cow. However, the primary reason to build a bedded pack facility is that you don’t have to muck out, transport and store manure as they over winter in the facility.

The bedded pack is a building that has concrete walls 4-6 feet high all the way around the structure. As the animals expel waste more of the bedding is added. This goes on throughout the winter until the bedding almost reaches the top of the cement walls at which time it can be removed, composted and eventually spread on the hay fields.

This summer I was able to do a quality assurance inspection with one of the engineers on a newly constructed facility in Hawley MA. Because NRCS cost shares with the farmer the work has to be done to our design and specifications. Quality assurance inspections are completed throughout the construction but this was the final to make sure it met all our specifications.

The bedded pack is a great concept and design. Just remember to wear your tall Wellies when you go for a stroll through the facility.

EQIP Ranking

An internship with NRCS is not always adventures in the field. You have to pay your dues and attend important meetings like the one in June. On the agenda was ranking the different Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) applications. Under EQIP NRCS will cost share with the farmer or land owner to put conservation practices on the land. As the applications come in from the general public they are categorized under different subaccounts. These subaccounts have specified budgets.

The 2014 Farm Bill allotted over $9.5 m in EQIP funds for the state of Massachusetts. These funds will be spent on things like:

• Farm Energy Efficiency
• Organic Certification Assistance
• Water Quality
• Conservation Activity Plans
• Cropland
• Farmstead
• NE/NY Forestry Initiative
• Pasture and Hayland

I happily note that there is a separate subaccount that has its own line item in the budget for Historically Underserved (HU) individuals. This category is made up of:

• Beginning Farmer
• Limited Resource Farmer
• Socially Disadvantaged Farmer
• Tribal Indians

Because they have been historically underserved; this line allots specific funding for those who qualify for this fund code yet might not make the cut under a general ranking subaccount.

All the players attend this meeting, Planners, District Conservationists and Program Managers from the state office all come together to rank each application in a fair and equitable way. It was an eye opener for me to see the inner workings of the ranking process.

Can You Dig It

In order to properly put conservation on the land you need to follow NRCS’s 9 Step Conservation Planning Process. The reason I bring this up is because it looks simple but there are a lot of moving parts when planning conservation.

An example of some complexities presented itself this summer when a planner from the Hadley Field Office proposed a watering facility to a beef farmer. Sounds straight forward, run a hose to the trough, fill it when needed. That was the process when he spoke to the farmer. However, the beef cows need water in the winter pasture and a hose won’t work.

To address the concern NRCS proposed a 4 season watering facility. In order to make the watering facility 4 season you have to bury a pipe at least 4 feet deep. If you want to heat the water so it won’t freeze you need electricity so you need to run conduit as well.

One filter you need to get past whenever you dig, is this digging going to affect any cultural resources? If the answer is yes then the planner must rethink the conservation practice or move the practice where it won’t be interfering with cultural resources.

As an intern I am asked to come out to the site to help dig test pits. We dig test pits to determine whether there are cultural resources in the area where the trench will be dug for the pipe that will feed the Watering facility. The land owner, myself, the planner, an archeologist (NRCS) and a member of People of the First Light come out to see what we can find.

We must dig the test pits 50cm by 50cm by 50cm. We dig pits at 10 foot intervals along the route in which the trench will be dug. All the material is screened and examined for artifacts. Fortunately and unfortunately we did not find any artifacts, if we did we would have to stop the project and replan the work.

 

Celebrating Success

Not all field work is walking fields, pastures, forest or barnyard. Sometimes you have to take time to celebrate your successes. This summer there was a lot to celebrate. We took one morning off from the field to head over to Barstow’s Dairy Farm. There was a large celebration going on and the District Conservationist I work for was invited to attend. Both he and NRCS were instrumental along with many other agencies in getting this project done.

As we pull up to the farm there is a large tent set up and 100 or so people from all over the state and the country milling about. They were all there to see the Barstow’s new Anaerobic Digester. In a nut shell, it is a system that takes manure from their dairy operation, mixes it with food waste which they truck in, to make clean energy for the farm and an additional 200 homes.

The anaerobic digester uses this mixture of animal and food waste as food for the digestion system. As the food is digested methane gas is released. The system feeds the gas into a generator which in turn produces electricity. After the digestion process takes place the by product is a clean product that can be used for bedding.

I was able to meet one of the design engineers from the company that built the system. He gave me a personal tour of the system and explained how it worked. The system has many moving parts and some proprietary technology that he was not willing to share, but all in all a great learning experience.