Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

1. Executive Committee Co-Chairs of the Consortium wrote a thank you letter to the Commissioner Soares of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources to thank him and the Massachusetts Agricultural Innovation Center for funding the Integrated Pasture Management on Dairy and Livestock Farms at $170,000 at the Upper Northeast Pasture Center. This funding was matched by $170,001 from University of Massachusetts. 2. James Cropper began his duties as Executive Director of the Northeast Pasture Consortium in October, 2008. Dr. Ed Rayburn continues as Principal Investigator for the Consortium. 3. Senator Arlen Specter and Congressman Tim Holden were sent letters of thank you by the Executive Director and Private Sector Co-Chair for their work and support in 2008 to fund the ARS Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Station that had been selected for closure. The Private-sector Consortium members requested that Congress maintain funding ($4,400,000) for the ARS Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Station, University Park, PA. 4. Letters of support for the Small Farms Institute grant proposal to fund the North Appalachian Experimental Watershed at Coshocton, OH were sent to Congressman Space, Congresswoman Kaptur, Senator Brown, and Senator Voinovich. This grant proposal calls for a five year project of studying the water quality benefits of pastureland and the value pastureland products have in maintaining small farm sustainability. The grant request is for 2.65 million dollars over the 5 years. Ohio State University and the Small Farm Institute are collaborators. 5. Informed Consortium members of the public comment period on the federal register for the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA). It will provide federal grants for agricultural research in addition to research money allocated to research by current USDA agencies. 6. Letter of support sent by Co-Chairs of the Executive Committee for a grant proposal submitted by Matt Sanderson, ARS, University Park that collaborates with the University of New Hampshire in to do research into pasture biodiversity for the 'Managed Ecosystem Program' a competitive grant program within the USDA Agricultural Food and Research Initiative (AFRI). 7. Letter of congratulations sent to Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, USDA and introducing the Northeast Pasture Consortium to her. 8. Informed Consortium members of the National Animal Identification System Listening Session at Harrisburg, PA on May 14, 2009. 9. Approved action agenda items for CY2009. These are listed in the Consortium annual meeting minutes under the Private and Public Sector reports. 10. Placed the proceedings of the 2009 annual meeting including power point slides and handouts on the Consortium website, Northeast Grazing Guide, for post-meeting access. 11. Sent questionnaire to all Private Sector members asking their input on address changes, their interest in remaining members of the Consortium, research topics, and annual meeting scheduling preferences. 12. Produced newsletter in December 2008 announcing annual meeting location at Morgantown with registration information and form. June 2009 newsletter will also be sent. Sent via email primarily. 13. Private Sector members were sent a complementary copy of the book, Managing and Marketing for Pasture-Based Livestock Production, NRAES-174, published January 2006. This was a token of appreciation for their contributions to the success of the NE Pasture Research & Extension Consortium. 14. James Cropper visited the North Appalachian Experimental Watershed at Coshocton, OH on his way back from the family farm in Illinois. It was his first time to see the storied research facility. 15. The Resolution adopted by Northeast Pasture Consortium to assist the Nutrient Subcommittee of the Chesapeake Bay Program was sent to the Chairman of the Subcommittee in late March. 16. A number of publications that support the goals of the Consortium have been published and are listed on the Publications page.

Bishopp, T. 2009. The passing wind. Lancaster Farming. 05/30/2009 Issue. Bishopp, T. 2009. What the heck does a grazing specialist do? Lancaster Farming. 04/02/09 Issue. Bishopp, T. 2009. Powering up with pasture (Strongman Kevin Fulton). Lancaster Farming and Country Folks. 04/04/2009 Issue. Bishopp, T. 2009. Grass-fed beef conference celebrates a green future. Lancaster Farming. 04/02/09 Issue. Chianese, D.S., C.A. Rotz, and T. Richard. 2009. Estimated Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Representative Northeastern Dairy Farm. J. of Env. Qual. Accepted for pub. On 02/18/2009. Cropper, J.B., S. Aschmann, S. Brantly, M. Chaney, D. Emmick, T. Nennich. 2008. Profitable Grazing-Based Dairy Systems. USDA-NRCS Range and Pasture Technical No. 1. pp. 40. Deak, A., M.H. Hall, and M.A. Sanderson. 2009. Grazing schedule effect on forage production and nutritive value of diverse forage mixtures. Agron. J. 101:408-414. Dell, C.J. 2009. Fact Sheet: Soil Carbon Sequestration in Pastures. Northeast Pasture Consortium. p. 1. Goslee, S.C., M.A. Sanderson, and Gonet, J. 2009. The effect of pasture fallowing on plant community cover and seed bank properties. Agron. J. Accepted for pub. on 04/21/2009. Goslee, S.C. 2009. Pasture Fallowing Fact Sheet. Northeast Pasture Consortium. p. 1. Gregorini, P., Soder, K.J., Sanderson, M.A. 2008. Case Study: A Snapshot in Time of Fatty Acids Composition of Grass Herbage as Affected by Time of Day. Professional Animal Scientist. 24(6):675-680. Gregorini, P, K.J. Soder, M.A. Sanderson, Ziegler, G. 2009. A snapshot in the effect of time of day on herbage toughness and chemical composition. An. Feed Sci. & Tech. Accepted for pub. on 02/24/2009. Rayburn, E. B. 2009. Pasture and Meadow Nutrient Management. Nutrient Management Training. Jackson's Mill, WV 02/17/2009. West Virginia University Ext. Ser. Forage & Livestock Systems video. Rotz, C.A. 2008. The Integrated Farm System Model: A Tool for Whole Farm Nutrient Management Analysis. Proceedings of American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists. Section 6. Rotz, C.A., Chianese, D.S. 2008. The Dairy Greenhouse Gas Emission Model: Reference Manual. Version 10. Available: http://www.ars.usda.gov/sp2UserFiles/Place/19020000/DairyGHGReferenceManual.pdf Rotz, C.A. and Montes, F. 2009. DairyGHG: a tool for evaluating the greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint of dairy production systems. American Dairy Science Association Proceedings. Accepted on 02/14/2009. Rotz, C.A. 2009. The Dairy Greenhouse Gas Model: A Tool for estimating greenhouse gas emissions and the carbon footprint of dairy production systems. Northeast Pasture Consortium Fact Sheets. p. 1. Sanderson, M.A. 2008. Fact Sheet: Accurately measuring forage yield in pastures. Northeast Pasture Consortium Fact Sheet 2008. Sanderson, M.A. 2008. Fact Sheet: Tapping into the pasture seed bank. Northeast Pasture Consortium Fact Sheet 2008. Sanderson, M.A. 2008. Fact Sheet: Ten Questions about Pastures and Biodiversity. Northeast Pasture Consortium Fact Sheet 2008. Sanderson, M.A. 2008. Managing forage and grazing lands for multiple ecosystem services: possibilities, progress, and research needs for the eastern USA[abstract]. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts. p. 1. CDROM. Sanderson, M.A., Soder, K.J., Gregorini, P., and Gierus, M. 2008. Forage budgeting on pasture. Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on the Strategic Management of Pastures. p. 185-200. Sanderson, M.A., Bryant, R.B. 2009. Fact Sheet: Soil nutrient levels on grazing farms in the northeastern U.S. Northeast Pasture Consortium Fact Sheets. p. 1. Sanderson, M.A. 2009. Pastures and biodiversity. Northeast Pasture Consortium Fact Sheets. p. 1. Sanderson, M.A. 2009. Measuring and budgeting available forage in pastures. Extension Fact Sheets. p. 1. Sanderson, M.A. 2009. Pasture seed banks. Northeast Pasture Consortium Fact Sheets. p. 1. Sanderson, M.A., Stout, R.C., Brussel, K., Schwab, C. 2009. Seed bank characterization of pastures and hayfields of the University of New Hampshire Organic Dairy[abstract]. Northeast Pasture Consortium Abstract. p. 1. Skinner, R.H., Adler, P.R. 2009. CO2 Sequestration Potential of Switchgrass Managed for Bioenergy Production. Extension Fact Sheets. p. 1. Soder, K.J. 2008. Biodiverse Forage Mixtures: Can They Improve Animal and Pasture Productivity? Extension Fact Sheets. Pub. 04/20/2008. Soder, K.J. 2008. Using a Total Mixed Ration on a Pasture-Based Dairy. Extension Fact Sheets. Pub. 04/20/2008. Soder, K.J. 2009. Energy Requirements of Grazing Activity. Internet Web Page. p. 1. Soder, K.J., Sanderson, M.A., Gregorini, P., Orr, R.J., Rubano, M.D., Rook, A.J. 2009. Bite mass of cattle related to sward structure of four temperate grasses in short-term tests[abstract]. Northeast Pasture Consortium Abstract. p. 1. Soder, K.J. 2009. Does Sward Structure Affect Bite Mass of Grazing Cattle? - Fact Sheet. Northeast Pasture Consortium Fact Sheets. p. 1. Veith, T.L., Rotz, C.A. 2008. Whole-farm simulation to determine effective conservation practices. Proceedings of American Chemical Society National Meeting. Paper #1210774.