America’s Conservation Ag Movement hosts live, farmer-led networking events, called Virtual Peer Networks, which allow producers to hear the latest from experts and innovators moving the needle in conservation ag. They can glean insights and meet other like-minded farmers and ranchers at these interactive virtual events. In 2024, ACAM is hosting a series of VPN events in Montana, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and New York.
The first VPN of the fourth quarter was hosted by Oklahoma rancher Jack Thomas who utilizes a strong partnership with his local conservation district and USDA-NRCS to expand conservation on his 2,000-acre cow calf operation. He was joined by his local USDA-NRCS officer, Trevor Folsom. Together, they are planning to utilize bale grazing to improve soil health on his operation. Farm Report’s Stevie White is featuring comments from that conversation.
Folsom described bale grazing as feeding hay in areas with poor soil quality to encourage the cattle to spend more time there. The dry matter of the hay and concentrated organic matter from the cows will cause many things to happen.
Folsom explained, “Increasing the organic matter in that specific area will increase forage quality, water holding capacity, and microbe activity. All of this works together to add a little bit of resilience to his operation and increases his holding capacity to protect him against things like drought.”
The landowner, Thomas, has noted other benefits to being intentional about where he feeds his hay. “I have three bale feeders in the areas where I know that I have lost a lot of topsoil over the years and the soil has thinned out quite a bit,” he described. “Keeping them down there, they are building that soil for me. I bring them up to the barn every morning and feed them, then they drift out.”
Additionally, Thomas wants to keep his calves from spending too much time in the pens because of the high concentration of dust and coccidiosis which has been evident there since his grandfather was running the operation.
Folsom and his team at the NRCS office will track Thomas’s progress with bale grazing by performing soil tests both before and after the feeding seasons.
For more information about VPNs in Oklahoma and other states, visit the website at AmericasConcervationAgMovement.com.
