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about 460 pounds, will graze pastures and cropped areas for approximately a year, then be finished on corn silage plus protein supplement. The LISA system will attempt to substitute management, crop rotations and integration of animal grazing into cropping practices for use of potentially polluting chemicals or non-renewable resources.
The conventional system will have tall fescue and fescue-red clover pastures, and corn and alfalfa crops. The LISA system will have fescue-alfalfa pasture and crops of com, wheat-millet, alfalfa, and alfalfa-rye.
An example of a strategy to be used in the LISA system — which could soon become a recommendation for conventional agriculture before this project is complete — comes from long-term pasture management research recently completed by Virginia Tech. Ms. Allen explained that growing tall fescue with alfalfa through the summer provided higher quality forage for fall and winter grazing than fertilizing tall fescue with nitrogen. The pasture managed in this way produced as much seasoned forage without nitrogen fertilizer as fescue fertilized with 80 pounds of nitrogen twice a year. And it produced the best weight gains in livestock every year for five years.
The characteristics and quality of the meat produced by the two systems will also be evaluated.
Other prinicipal investigators in the LISA project are W.L. Daniels (soils), J.P. Fontenot (ruminant nutrition), E.S. Hagood (weed management) and J.M. Luna (entomology).
Individuals who chose to visit Hickory Hill will also see pasture management strategies and beef production. Hickory Hill is a working Gelbvieh purebred beef farm with a 120-cow herd. Manager Dave Linker explains that Gelbviehs, a German breed known for its fertility, maternal ability, docility and exceptional post-weaning growth, has only been in America for 20 years. Hickory Hill has used embryo transfer to build a quality polled Gelbvieh herd.
“Our emphasis is on performance to meet the commercial cattleman’s and the purebred producers’ needs,” says Mr. Linker, who earned his degree in animal science at Virginia Tech and worked for three large commedal cattle and sheep operations, including Neuhoff and Stuart Land & Cattle, before joining Hickory Hill.
In addition to beef and sheep, individuals who elect to visit the Hickory Hill Farm will see work being done to renovate and improve pasture. “We are trying to correct erosion and potential erosion problems,” Mr. Linker explains. “We don’t grow crops — but use this land for what is is best for, which is pasture.” He will explain the pasture management program.
Agri-Tech is a two-day event showcasing Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Cooperative Extension, College of Veterinary Medicine and agriculture related businesses and industries. For a schedule of events, visit the Rappahannock County Cooperative Extension office. For more information call (703) 675-3619.
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