[soilforwater] Hello from Arkansas!

[Linda Coffey]

Soil for Water members,
My name is Linda Coffey, and I am a new member from Prairie Grove, AR, in the northwest corner of the state.  I am an NCAT livestock specialist, and will coordinate efforts in Arkansas as Soil for Water expands in our state.

My husband and I have been raising sheep on our small farms (in KS for 10 years, here for 25) and enjoy grazing our sheep.  I have some great advantages; we get rain, and my husband enjoys building fence!  Our 50 acres consist of about half woodland and 24 acres or so of pasture.

While we get good rainfall, it's not predictable and doesn't always come when we need it.  The summer slump is a challenge every year.  So I wanted to just share a photo of a practice that we tried first last year; growing sorghum sudan grass to provide really good quality summer forage to keep our lambs growing.

I'm attaching a photo that I took yesterday as we turned 25 ewes into a pasture that hadn't been grazed for a few weeks.  The sorghum sudan grass recovers amazingly well, even with no rain.  Last year, some of the pastures were grazed 7 times during the season; it's a highly cost-effective practice, and so satisfying to have excellent forage in large quantities to feed our stock.

Ken established it by lightly discing the pasture (bermudagrass and some crabgrass) and then broadcasting the seed.  Then, wait till it gets tall; 2 feet or so at least for the first graze, and concentrate animals if possible so they graze fairly evenly.  I like to see some leaves left for faster regrowth, but even where we left them a day too long, the forage recovered.  The sheep love it, they are growing well even in the heat, and I think the shade provided by tall forage is helpful.

Total spent: about $60.  Planted about 5 acres, I'd say. Hardly any disturbance of soil structure, there is grass underneath holding the soil in place, and having this much forage on four pastures frees him to clip the fescue on six others to get set for stockpiling.  Grazing tall keeps our sheep from taking in internal parasite larvae.  I would like more diversity and welcome your tips about that.

I'm interested to know how you all remember what you've done.  Are you using fancy pasture records?  Or an app?  Or a calendar?  For myself, I'd like us to improve in that area.

I look forward to hearing from you all!
Sincerely,
Linda Coffey, NCAT Livestock Specialist, and Maple Gorge Farm
Prairie Grove, AR
www.attra.ncat.org<http://www.attra.ncat.org>

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