Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

NE1441 meeting

University of Maryland, College Park, MD

August 17-19, 2016

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Attendance: Amy, Carey, Robert, Ann, Masoud, Jessie, Carissa, Paul (on line: Krishona, Bridgett)

Dept Chair Introduction, Dr. Stall – at UMD for just over one year, very supportive of equine, 21 faculty, 35 grads, 279 undergrads in Animal and Avian science.  85% female and 95% no ag background.  Horse industry standpoint…highest density of horses in nation, about 80K horses with limited land area. Most is in Chesapeake Bay watershed. Opportunities in USDA for environmental research.

State Reports:

Krishona Martinson – MNU

• Warm season grazing with Annual Ryegrass as control
  • Found a 1:1 Ca:P ratio or inverted, consistently and a concern for Teff or other warm season grasses. Common in turf grasses.
  • Major nitrate problem, both vegetative and mature state, both in 2014 and 2015. In cattle should not be over 1000 ppm in horses can be 4000 ppm, but some are around 9000 ppm.  Teff grazed 24/7 were levels that could kill horses.
  • Crude protein is also high in all grasses, not surprised.
  • Amy will also be doing nitrate in her warm season grasses as well. Was suggested by Lori Warren at UFL, which has high nitrates also.
  • Tracked weather patterns, but near 30-year historical averages, minus one large rainfall in June. Grasses not planted until first week of June.
• Hay rake testing for ash content
  • Multiple cases of dirt in hay, over 8% is considered contamination
    • Merger rake, inverts hay
    • Side delivery rake
    • Wheel rake, ground driven
    • Rotary rake or gyro rake, latest and greatest
  • MN, PA and WI locations, standing and cutting, samples were taken after raking and post-baling
  • MN had sandy soil, ash about 11-15%, PA 9-10%, WI 9-10% with the Wheel rake having the most ash.
• Future studies include:
  • Low lignin alfalfa project hoping for funding
  • Grass-legume mixture study
  • Estimating weight of saddle horses and minis to add to the phone app.
  • Fly repellent effectiveness study ongoing – fly bands, fly boots, home remedy spray, and 2 commercial sprays plus control
  • Blood glucose and insulin while grazing
  • Grazing perennial ryegrass
  • Continuing equine pasture management program

Bridgett McIntosh – VA Tech

• Extension Programs
  • Horse Owner Education Seminar Series, funded by Horse Council and Horse Industry Board. Certificate driven, hay ID, emergency shoe removal, wrapping, acupuncture, 60 people total.
  • Spotlight on Stewardship: Equine Land Management Symposium, trouble with attendance, only 33 this year, larger last year.
  • Equine Forages Conferences, forum on fall panicum (Johnsongrass) toxicity, pasture and in hay, big problem in VA, grows this time of year. Low level liver toxicity.
  • 4-H horse youth program, at MARE Center, 20 youth groups come to focused on pasture, conservation, etc.
• Research Projects
  • Continuous vs Rotational Grazing, involving summer interns, and Program assistant oversees, sampled before and after grazing, no data ready yet. Preliminary ROT has higher nutrient content. 4 horses on each system.
  • Micro RNA for predicting laminitis, worked with Dr. Tanja Hess at Colorado State, used warmblood mares, and ponies.
  • Use of acetaminophen use in horses as alternative to Bute. Nothing negative yet, maybe environmental concerns?
  • Equine nutritional management survey, body condition index score (originally proposed by Waltham), doesn’t work for certain body types of horses, currently 233 measurements of sport horses.
  • Digestive buffer effects on horses with obese EMS horses
  • Seasonal grazing study on metabolic and digestive responses in horses, just cool seasons grasses, fecal samples, blood samples, equine microbiome
  • VA Working Landscapes Biodiversity study, run by citizen scientists.
  • Low intensity exercise on unfit TB
  • Novel turgrass study in collaboration with Amy Burk at UMD
• Teaching and Experiential Learning program
  • Summer program through British Equestrian program, used for credit, undergrads work hard and get a lot of experience, mini-boot camp, foaling, blood collection, visit DC, help host groups

Paul Siciliano – NCSU

• Research Update
  • Restricted grazing on body weight and activity, while grazing pasture can they lose weight by time and/or space restriction, 35 day period with two groups of 5 horses. Restricted to 0.14 ha, or continuous at 2.2 ha, looked at herbage mass. Max-Q tall fescue fields, restricted grazing did have a decrease in weight, 35 kg reduction, continuous horses gained 14 kg. Also monitored activity with a polar equine V800 activity monitor, did travel less than continuous group. Restricted required a high level of management, moved when fields were <3”.
• Outreach Update
  • NRCS Grazing Management video series, 12 short management videos, 3 complete so far, posted on YouTube.

Amy Burk – UMD

• Rotational Grazing Site
  • Educated over 700 individuals from 5 states, in 2013 grazing mares and foals, took a 2 year break from educational programs at cite. Thinking about making a multi-state or regional pasture program or seminar day to help maximize the number of people we reach and help decrease the work load on one individual faculty.
• Research update
  • Aubrey Lowrey’s Ph.D. project, development of a novel trufgrass grazing system for overweight horses.
    • Study 1: evaluate prevalence of obesity in MD, characterize control strategies, determine how managing obese horses impacts the operations, 96% of operations manage at least 1 obese horse, about 40% of the population was obese, about 24% of the ponies were laminitic, 70% of ponies used dry lots, dry lots caused more maintenance, 27% of obese ponies still got grain!
    • Study 2: wear tolerance of turfgrasses, 8 cool and 6 warm season grasses in replicated plots, aerator fitted with feet to simulate horses, once per week, high traffic, low traffic and control, study is ongoing.
    • Study 3: palatability of turfgrasses, done at the MARE Center, same turfgrasses, dry lot with acclimation period, graze for 8 hours, study is ongoing.
    • Study 4: evaluation of trufgrasses for obese horses, test it on obese horses, work with Waltham, will be seeding soon.

Thursday, August 18^th, 2016

Attendance: Amy, Carey, Robert, Ann, Masoud, Jessie, Carissa, Mike, Mark, Paul

Jessie Weir – UFL

• Research for Doctorate with Dr. Carissa Wickens as Ph.D. advisor
• 82% of ammonia emissions are related to agriculture
• Characterizing ammonia emissions on different protein levels in forage
  • Used 9 geldings with 11 days of diet adaptation
  • 2 warm seasons hays, Bahiagrass hay low CP, Bermuda grass hay high CP, plus grain to increase CP.
  • Also did invitro study at UDEL
  • Feces was highest total nitrogen in medium CP diet, Urine was highest in both Medium and High CP. CP digestibility ranged between 49 and 58%, similar to past literature in grass hay
  • Emissions rate showed high CP diet was highest with both feces and urine
• Field testing on ammonia emissions model in different housing types
  • Ventilation was difficult to measure, used indirect measure of metabolic CO2
  • Used closed barns in DE, using a dynamic flux chamber system to measure NH3 flux
  • Used FLIR thermos-imaging camera to determine the area of the stall that was wet, measured 5 min / stall location with 5 locations in each stall, about 4-5 stalls per barn
  • Surveyed management practices and barn characteristics, estimated horses CP intake, sampled dirty bedding as well.
  • Bedded on straw is highest NH3 emissions on straw with broodmares after inside overnight.
• Want to take the further to test aversion to NH3 with horse behavior using a head feeding box designed by an ag engineer at UDEL.

Carissa Wickens – UFL

• Extension programs
  • FL is catching up to the Mid-Atlantic, dept of ag, DEP, university is focused on water quality, focusing on BMP education, also doing a needs assessment for what equipment horse farms need to deal with manure removal.

Masoud Hashemi – UMASS

• Blue Star farm sanctuary for draft horses, needed BMPs to help with water quality, had direct access to stream, turned to vegetative area with no access to stream, manure duped directly on stream, now aeriated compost pile, farm sells compost.
• Campus farm now has water fenced off with a controlled water crossing and heavy use areas with several different types of footing (6), with description of each for educational purposes.
• Installed about 20-25 BMPs over two farm in the last few years.

Robert Causey – UME

• Abatement of S Equi in compost, MS of Alex Garcia
  • After seeding compost piles with S. Equi the organisms was gone in less than 24 hours. Sterilized horse bedding, how long would S Equi last? Within 24 hours when non-sterilized but over 48 hours in sterile environment. Dried bedding was less able to get rid of S Equi than if not dried.  After dried more water was added back to get range of moisture, very dry S Equi survived for several days, at about 24 to 36 day removal of S Equi at about 30-50% moisture. S Equi needs physical contact to survive.
  • Working on waste hay elimination at the college farm.
  • Also thinking about Antibiotic Stewardship

Ann Swinker – PSU

• Environmental stewardship programs, surveys came back positive with a lot of positive change towards rotational grazing, manure pads, other BMPs installed.
• Manure management plan writing, organized workshops and one on one writing
• Works closely with other organizations
• Trying to encourage people to do no-till drilling, so purchased 2 8-foot no-till drills to help horse farm owners, only reseeded 20 farms (1 pasture on each), other drill is in SE PA with another agent who will use it. 7 farms had their own and were able to use it. 8 farms were able to broadcast seed or frost-free seeding.
• Parasite project run by Donna Foulk, $150K NE SARE grant
  • Whole farm approach to manure and parasites, too much resistance with de-wormers, day long workshop with horse owners, farms collect fecal samples, provide fecal egg count procedures, de-wormers are provided, farms are checked for parasite resistance.
  • All farms had a high shedder, some horses have good immunity, 95% of farms determined effectiveness of de-worming program, project reduced fear of parasite overload problems, they learned how to do their own testing, some purchased own microscope, 68% took steps to improve pastures, 45% remove manure from pastures
  • 43% of farms had Pyrantel resistance, 86% had Fenbendazole resistance.

Mike Westendorf – Rutgers

• An Evening of Wine and Equine – Environmental Stewardship, run with NRCS in NJ to get people signed up for funding with NRCS, educated in the process of BMPs they can use on their farm to help increase their environmental stewardship.
• Waste to Worth conference in April, in Raleigh, North Carolina, want to have another equine symposium. Will have a one day rate for the conference on the equine day. 
• Send Mike a list of accomplishments, papers and grants on program related activities. Due 60 days after meeting, but please get Mike reports ASAP.
• Want to look at projects related to BMP adoption on farms, what drives adoption? Neighbor complaints, NRCS funding, etc? Come up with a profile for adoptions.
• Compare composting standards in NJ, with more intensive standards for composing.

Carey Williams – Rutgers

• Laura Kenny’s MS project: Rotational vs. Continuous grazing on horse condition, pasture quality and soil
  • First a comparison of vegetative cover methods was performed. The study looked at 2 different line transect methods, a step point method and the pasture evaluation disk designed by Penn State.  The results showed that these methods can be used interchangeably but due to ease of performing the method the Step Point method was used for future studies.
  • First year of the rotational grazing project found that horse condition did not differ between systems but horses did have a decrease in body weight, body condition and body fat during the winter months, which then increased again in the spring. Soil measure also did not differ, it is thought that the compaction and water infiltration might need more than a one year time period to see differences.  Pasture condition was different with the rotational system having higher sward height in the late fall and spring, and the herbage mass being greater in the spring.  Vegetative cover was also different with less weeds in the rotational system near the end of the first year.  Greater differences are expected in year 2.  The project will continue until the end of the second full grazing season.   
• 24 hr sugar study in collaboration with Amy Burk at UMD
  • Blood, feces and pasture samples were taken every 4 hours over a 24 hour period in June, August and October of 2015, one year after the horses were grazing in each of the rotational or continuous systems.
  • Glucose and Insulins are done but need to be analyzed , results were from an undergraduate project using only one month of data.
  • In June there were no differences in glucose or insulin between systems, fecal pH and sugar content in the forage also was not different between systems. Several sample times were different but no pattern was found.  More analysis of data will come.
• Future Studies: waiting on a grant to look at grazing preference using GPS monitors that can measure elevation of head to see when horses are grazing, also look at microbiome in combination with time of day and season.

Kim Kroll – NE SARE

• Very applied program, bench science is not where funding goes, really focused on farmer education.
• Congress annually gives SARE funds, proposals must explain how funds will be used to help farmers.
• 4 regional councils that set priorities, non-profits, agencies, land grants, etc.
• Writing grants is a team approach, must have farmer input
• Research and Education, Farmer/Rancher, Professional Development, Graduate Student, Ag Professional + Producer Partnerships
• Sustainable pest and weed management, crop diversification, nutrient management, soil quality, stewardship of the land, rotational grazing, etc.
• SARE Outreach, library of practical how-to books, medial outreach, a portfolio, conference sponsorships, on line resources…
• Impact: 79% of producers said they improved soil quality, etc. Lots of impact!
• State coordinators also have pot of money to use for special initiatives, pilots etc. Contact state coordinators.

Thur. PM in DC, Grant meetings:

• Environmental (EPA) Education Grant Program (meeting with Karen Scott)
• General grants program:
  • Total level of funding - $3 to $3.5 million
  • 38% of budget to education grants
  • 25% of budget to teacher education
    • (didn’t capture in my notes what the remaining percentage goes towards)
  • Two main types of grants:
    • Local grants - $90,000
    • Model grants (can be multi-state/regional) - $190,000
  • EPA is mandated to increase environmental awareness and stewardship
  • Accept applications on all environmental topics, but must focus on education
  • Best resources are RFP and FQA
  • Fiscal year 2017 not yet established, call for proposals likely will not be released until spring 2017
  • Funding rate is less than 10% (e.g. previously have received 476 applications and typically fund between 30-35 projects). Many not funded due to not following RFP or grammar and misspellings in proposal.
  • Proposals (work plan/methods) limited to 8 pages.
  • Cannot include construction or training of environmental professionals in the budget, however these stipulations are not well defined. Recommended referring to EPA statute/law (?).
  • Proposals cannot be simply outreach, rather projects have to educate, e.g. through workshops (more than just meetings). Pre and post-knowledge assessments. Education and teaching resulting in behavior change/problem solving.
  • Proposal must address an important environmental issue (why is this project needed/important). Lit review/justification with references cited (references not included in page count).
  • List of past proposals/funded projects available online (awards since 1992).

Friday, August 19, 2016

Attendance: Amy, Carey, Robert, Ann, Masoud, Jessie, Carissa, Paul

• Send state reports to Mike ASAP.
• Journal reviews:
  • Protein Metabolism is published JEVS Vol. 45: 78-86.
  • Environment Protein Environment is published JEVS Vol. 45:98-106.
  • Pasture methods paper is out for review in JEVS.
  • Manure review, Masoud revised, Mike sent back out for another review. Need to add more than storage facilities, i.e. aeriated compost, alternative uses of compost, etc.  Authors are Ann, Masoud and Mike.  Carissa and Robert will be added as authors. Carey will send an email to get things moving again.
• Future Grants and research
  • Yesterday’s meetings. NERA NEED planning grants, up to $10,000 to plan future grants, SARE grad student grants will be a good venue for pasture and environmental research, SE SARE is not crazy about horses, Paul and Carissa will meet with advisors to help get that changed, need to get producers involved.
  • Masoud suggested the DEP 319 grants to implement water quality BMP’s and do education. He says those are great grants.
  • Extension Risk Management Education is a good area to submit for. Good with Regulatory aspect, economic impact, water quality aspect. Innovative tools to tie in with overall goal. Carissa wants to take a lead on this proposal, and continue in this area with more edits. Need to fill in producer need using stats, etc.
  • Masoud will start a pre proposal for NE SARE next round, research and education division. Forage related proposal.
  • EPA Environmental Education program, grants for local issues with grants around $90K, the Model grant program funds multiple states for around $190 (def less than $200K). This is our best option for funding, even though only a 10% funding rate. 
    • Add in survey info about need for education on keeping horse properties educationally friendly.
    • This will environmental education fosters critical thinking, problem solving and decision making skills on environmental topics.
    • Apply for a NERA NEED planning grant to organize the group to get funding for phone app, and EPA EE grant. Amy will take the lead on the NERA NEED grant for $10,000.
    • Outputs:
      • Apply for funding for phone app development for Equine Environmental Stewardship Self-Assessment phone App. Then build in links to find more information on where to find help or solutions.
      • Video segments for educate horse farm owners, youth, and others on Environmental BMPs on horse farms.
      • Host 2 (or more) hands on educational workshop for youth with parents and for adult farm owners, etc.
      • Produce a packet of information (CD/DVD) to be used in other locations by other educators.
    • Outcomes:
      • Need to work out these.
    • Next year’s meeting: asking Bridgett for MARE Center VA Tech to host 2017, in 2018 we will have Masoud host us at UMASS – Amhurst, other options for future meetings are UFL hosted by Carissa or Maine hosted by Robert Causey

Respectfully submitted by Carey Williams

NE1441 meeting

University of Maryland, College Park, MD

August 17-19, 2016

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Attendance: Amy, Carey, Robert, Ann, Masoud, Jessie, Carissa, Paul (on line: Krishona, Bridgett)

Dept Chair Introduction, Dr. Stall – at UMD for just over one year, very supportive of equine, 21 faculty, 35 grads, 279 undergrads in Animal and Avian science.  85% female and 95% no ag background.  Horse industry standpoint…highest density of horses in nation, about 80K horses with limited land area. Most is in Chesapeake Bay watershed. Opportunities in USDA for environmental research.

State Reports:

Krishona Martinson – MNU

• Warm season grazing with Annual Ryegrass as control
  • Found a 1:1 Ca:P ratio or inverted, consistently and a concern for Teff or other warm season grasses. Common in turf grasses.
  • Major nitrate problem, both vegetative and mature state, both in 2014 and 2015. In cattle should not be over 1000 ppm in horses can be 4000 ppm, but some are around 9000 ppm.  Teff grazed 24/7 were levels that could kill horses.
  • Crude protein is also high in all grasses, not surprised.
  • Amy will also be doing nitrate in her warm season grasses as well. Was suggested by Lori Warren at UFL, which has high nitrates also.
  • Tracked weather patterns, but near 30-year historical averages, minus one large rainfall in June. Grasses not planted until first week of June.
• Hay rake testing for ash content
  • Multiple cases of dirt in hay, over 8% is considered contamination
    • Merger rake, inverts hay
    • Side delivery rake
    • Wheel rake, ground driven
    • Rotary rake or gyro rake, latest and greatest
  • MN, PA and WI locations, standing and cutting, samples were taken after raking and post-baling
  • MN had sandy soil, ash about 11-15%, PA 9-10%, WI 9-10% with the Wheel rake having the most ash.
• Future studies include:
  • Low lignin alfalfa project hoping for funding
  • Grass-legume mixture study
  • Estimating weight of saddle horses and minis to add to the phone app.
  • Fly repellent effectiveness study ongoing – fly bands, fly boots, home remedy spray, and 2 commercial sprays plus control
  • Blood glucose and insulin while grazing
  • Grazing perennial ryegrass
  • Continuing equine pasture management program

Bridgett McIntosh – VA Tech

• Extension Programs
  • Horse Owner Education Seminar Series, funded by Horse Council and Horse Industry Board. Certificate driven, hay ID, emergency shoe removal, wrapping, acupuncture, 60 people total.
  • Spotlight on Stewardship: Equine Land Management Symposium, trouble with attendance, only 33 this year, larger last year.
  • Equine Forages Conferences, forum on fall panicum (Johnsongrass) toxicity, pasture and in hay, big problem in VA, grows this time of year. Low level liver toxicity.
  • 4-H horse youth program, at MARE Center, 20 youth groups come to focused on pasture, conservation, etc.
• Research Projects
  • Continuous vs Rotational Grazing, involving summer interns, and Program assistant oversees, sampled before and after grazing, no data ready yet. Preliminary ROT has higher nutrient content. 4 horses on each system.
  • Micro RNA for predicting laminitis, worked with Dr. Tanja Hess at Colorado State, used warmblood mares, and ponies.
  • Use of acetaminophen use in horses as alternative to Bute. Nothing negative yet, maybe environmental concerns?
  • Equine nutritional management survey, body condition index score (originally proposed by Waltham), doesn’t work for certain body types of horses, currently 233 measurements of sport horses.
  • Digestive buffer effects on horses with obese EMS horses
  • Seasonal grazing study on metabolic and digestive responses in horses, just cool seasons grasses, fecal samples, blood samples, equine microbiome
  • VA Working Landscapes Biodiversity study, run by citizen scientists.
  • Low intensity exercise on unfit TB
  • Novel turgrass study in collaboration with Amy Burk at UMD
• Teaching and Experiential Learning program
  • Summer program through British Equestrian program, used for credit, undergrads work hard and get a lot of experience, mini-boot camp, foaling, blood collection, visit DC, help host groups

Paul Siciliano – NCSU

• Research Update
  • Restricted grazing on body weight and activity, while grazing pasture can they lose weight by time and/or space restriction, 35 day period with two groups of 5 horses. Restricted to 0.14 ha, or continuous at 2.2 ha, looked at herbage mass. Max-Q tall fescue fields, restricted grazing did have a decrease in weight, 35 kg reduction, continuous horses gained 14 kg. Also monitored activity with a polar equine V800 activity monitor, did travel less than continuous group. Restricted required a high level of management, moved when fields were <3”.
• Outreach Update
  • NRCS Grazing Management video series, 12 short management videos, 3 complete so far, posted on YouTube.

Amy Burk – UMD

• Rotational Grazing Site
  • Educated over 700 individuals from 5 states, in 2013 grazing mares and foals, took a 2 year break from educational programs at cite. Thinking about making a multi-state or regional pasture program or seminar day to help maximize the number of people we reach and help decrease the work load on one individual faculty.
• Research update
  • Aubrey Lowrey’s Ph.D. project, development of a novel trufgrass grazing system for overweight horses.
    • Study 1: evaluate prevalence of obesity in MD, characterize control strategies, determine how managing obese horses impacts the operations, 96% of operations manage at least 1 obese horse, about 40% of the population was obese, about 24% of the ponies were laminitic, 70% of ponies used dry lots, dry lots caused more maintenance, 27% of obese ponies still got grain!
    • Study 2: wear tolerance of turfgrasses, 8 cool and 6 warm season grasses in replicated plots, aerator fitted with feet to simulate horses, once per week, high traffic, low traffic and control, study is ongoing.
    • Study 3: palatability of turfgrasses, done at the MARE Center, same turfgrasses, dry lot with acclimation period, graze for 8 hours, study is ongoing.
    • Study 4: evaluation of trufgrasses for obese horses, test it on obese horses, work with Waltham, will be seeding soon.

Thursday, August 18^th, 2016

Attendance: Amy, Carey, Robert, Ann, Masoud, Jessie, Carissa, Mike, Mark, Paul

Jessie Weir – UFL

• Research for Doctorate with Dr. Carissa Wickens as Ph.D. advisor
• 82% of ammonia emissions are related to agriculture
• Characterizing ammonia emissions on different protein levels in forage
  • Used 9 geldings with 11 days of diet adaptation
  • 2 warm seasons hays, Bahiagrass hay low CP, Bermuda grass hay high CP, plus grain to increase CP.
  • Also did invitro study at UDEL
  • Feces was highest total nitrogen in medium CP diet, Urine was highest in both Medium and High CP. CP digestibility ranged between 49 and 58%, similar to past literature in grass hay
  • Emissions rate showed high CP diet was highest with both feces and urine
• Field testing on ammonia emissions model in different housing types
  • Ventilation was difficult to measure, used indirect measure of metabolic CO2
  • Used closed barns in DE, using a dynamic flux chamber system to measure NH3 flux
  • Used FLIR thermos-imaging camera to determine the area of the stall that was wet, measured 5 min / stall location with 5 locations in each stall, about 4-5 stalls per barn
  • Surveyed management practices and barn characteristics, estimated horses CP intake, sampled dirty bedding as well.
  • Bedded on straw is highest NH3 emissions on straw with broodmares after inside overnight.
• Want to take the further to test aversion to NH3 with horse behavior using a head feeding box designed by an ag engineer at UDEL.

Carissa Wickens – UFL

• Extension programs
  • FL is catching up to the Mid-Atlantic, dept of ag, DEP, university is focused on water quality, focusing on BMP education, also doing a needs assessment for what equipment horse farms need to deal with manure removal.

Masoud Hashemi – UMASS

• Blue Star farm sanctuary for draft horses, needed BMPs to help with water quality, had direct access to stream, turned to vegetative area with no access to stream, manure duped directly on stream, now aeriated compost pile, farm sells compost.
• Campus farm now has water fenced off with a controlled water crossing and heavy use areas with several different types of footing (6), with description of each for educational purposes.
• Installed about 20-25 BMPs over two farm in the last few years.

Robert Causey – UME

• Abatement of S Equi in compost, MS of Alex Garcia
  • After seeding compost piles with S. Equi the organisms was gone in less than 24 hours. Sterilized horse bedding, how long would S Equi last? Within 24 hours when non-sterilized but over 48 hours in sterile environment. Dried bedding was less able to get rid of S Equi than if not dried.  After dried more water was added back to get range of moisture, very dry S Equi survived for several days, at about 24 to 36 day removal of S Equi at about 30-50% moisture. S Equi needs physical contact to survive.
  • Working on waste hay elimination at the college farm.
  • Also thinking about Antibiotic Stewardship

Ann Swinker – PSU

• Environmental stewardship programs, surveys came back positive with a lot of positive change towards rotational grazing, manure pads, other BMPs installed.
• Manure management plan writing, organized workshops and one on one writing
• Works closely with other organizations
• Trying to encourage people to do no-till drilling, so purchased 2 8-foot no-till drills to help horse farm owners, only reseeded 20 farms (1 pasture on each), other drill is in SE PA with another agent who will use it. 7 farms had their own and were able to use it. 8 farms were able to broadcast seed or frost-free seeding.
• Parasite project run by Donna Foulk, $150K NE SARE grant
  • Whole farm approach to manure and parasites, too much resistance with de-wormers, day long workshop with horse owners, farms collect fecal samples, provide fecal egg count procedures, de-wormers are provided, farms are checked for parasite resistance.
  • All farms had a high shedder, some horses have good immunity, 95% of farms determined effectiveness of de-worming program, project reduced fear of parasite overload problems, they learned how to do their own testing, some purchased own microscope, 68% took steps to improve pastures, 45% remove manure from pastures
  • 43% of farms had Pyrantel resistance, 86% had Fenbendazole resistance.

Mike Westendorf – Rutgers

• An Evening of Wine and Equine – Environmental Stewardship, run with NRCS in NJ to get people signed up for funding with NRCS, educated in the process of BMPs they can use on their farm to help increase their environmental stewardship.
• Waste to Worth conference in April, in Raleigh, North Carolina, want to have another equine symposium. Will have a one day rate for the conference on the equine day. 
• Send Mike a list of accomplishments, papers and grants on program related activities. Due 60 days after meeting, but please get Mike reports ASAP.
• Want to look at projects related to BMP adoption on farms, what drives adoption? Neighbor complaints, NRCS funding, etc? Come up with a profile for adoptions.
• Compare composting standards in NJ, with more intensive standards for composing.

Carey Williams – Rutgers

• Laura Kenny’s MS project: Rotational vs. Continuous grazing on horse condition, pasture quality and soil
  • First a comparison of vegetative cover methods was performed. The study looked at 2 different line transect methods, a step point method and the pasture evaluation disk designed by Penn State.  The results showed that these methods can be used interchangeably but due to ease of performing the method the Step Point method was used for future studies.
  • First year of the rotational grazing project found that horse condition did not differ between systems but horses did have a decrease in body weight, body condition and body fat during the winter months, which then increased again in the spring. Soil measure also did not differ, it is thought that the compaction and water infiltration might need more than a one year time period to see differences.  Pasture condition was different with the rotational system having higher sward height in the late fall and spring, and the herbage mass being greater in the spring.  Vegetative cover was also different with less weeds in the rotational system near the end of the first year.  Greater differences are expected in year 2.  The project will continue until the end of the second full grazing season.   
• 24 hr sugar study in collaboration with Amy Burk at UMD
  • Blood, feces and pasture samples were taken every 4 hours over a 24 hour period in June, August and October of 2015, one year after the horses were grazing in each of the rotational or continuous systems.
  • Glucose and Insulins are done but need to be analyzed , results were from an undergraduate project using only one month of data.
  • In June there were no differences in glucose or insulin between systems, fecal pH and sugar content in the forage also was not different between systems. Several sample times were different but no pattern was found.  More analysis of data will come.
• Future Studies: waiting on a grant to look at grazing preference using GPS monitors that can measure elevation of head to see when horses are grazing, also look at microbiome in combination with time of day and season.

Kim Kroll – NE SARE

• Very applied program, bench science is not where funding goes, really focused on farmer education.
• Congress annually gives SARE funds, proposals must explain how funds will be used to help farmers.
• 4 regional councils that set priorities, non-profits, agencies, land grants, etc.
• Writing grants is a team approach, must have farmer input
• Research and Education, Farmer/Rancher, Professional Development, Graduate Student, Ag Professional + Producer Partnerships
• Sustainable pest and weed management, crop diversification, nutrient management, soil quality, stewardship of the land, rotational grazing, etc.
• SARE Outreach, library of practical how-to books, medial outreach, a portfolio, conference sponsorships, on line resources…
• Impact: 79% of producers said they improved soil quality, etc. Lots of impact!
• State coordinators also have pot of money to use for special initiatives, pilots etc. Contact state coordinators.

Thur. PM in DC, Grant meetings:

• Environmental (EPA) Education Grant Program (meeting with Karen Scott)
• General grants program:
  • Total level of funding - $3 to $3.5 million
  • 38% of budget to education grants
  • 25% of budget to teacher education
    • (didn’t capture in my notes what the remaining percentage goes towards)
  • Two main types of grants:
    • Local grants - $90,000
    • Model grants (can be multi-state/regional) - $190,000
  • EPA is mandated to increase environmental awareness and stewardship
  • Accept applications on all environmental topics, but must focus on education
  • Best resources are RFP and FQA
  • Fiscal year 2017 not yet established, call for proposals likely will not be released until spring 2017
  • Funding rate is less than 10% (e.g. previously have received 476 applications and typically fund between 30-35 projects). Many not funded due to not following RFP or grammar and misspellings in proposal.
  • Proposals (work plan/methods) limited to 8 pages.
  • Cannot include construction or training of environmental professionals in the budget, however these stipulations are not well defined. Recommended referring to EPA statute/law (?).
  • Proposals cannot be simply outreach, rather projects have to educate, e.g. through workshops (more than just meetings). Pre and post-knowledge assessments. Education and teaching resulting in behavior change/problem solving.
  • Proposal must address an important environmental issue (why is this project needed/important). Lit review/justification with references cited (references not included in page count).
  • List of past proposals/funded projects available online (awards since 1992).

Friday, August 19, 2016

Attendance: Amy, Carey, Robert, Ann, Masoud, Jessie, Carissa, Paul

• Send state reports to Mike ASAP.
• Journal reviews:
  • Protein Metabolism is published JEVS Vol. 45: 78-86.
  • Environment Protein Environment is published JEVS Vol. 45:98-106.
  • Pasture methods paper is out for review in JEVS.
  • Manure review, Masoud revised, Mike sent back out for another review. Need to add more than storage facilities, i.e. aeriated compost, alternative uses of compost, etc.  Authors are Ann, Masoud and Mike.  Carissa and Robert will be added as authors. Carey will send an email to get things moving again.
• Future Grants and research
  • Yesterday’s meetings. NERA NEED planning grants, up to $10,000 to plan future grants, SARE grad student grants will be a good venue for pasture and environmental research, SE SARE is not crazy about horses, Paul and Carissa will meet with advisors to help get that changed, need to get producers involved.
  • Masoud suggested the DEP 319 grants to implement water quality BMP’s and do education. He says those are great grants.
  • Extension Risk Management Education is a good area to submit for. Good with Regulatory aspect, economic impact, water quality aspect. Innovative tools to tie in with overall goal. Carissa wants to take a lead on this proposal, and continue in this area with more edits. Need to fill in producer need using stats, etc.
  • Masoud will start a pre proposal for NE SARE next round, research and education division. Forage related proposal.
  • EPA Environmental Education program, grants for local issues with grants around $90K, the Model grant program funds multiple states for around $190 (def less than $200K). This is our best option for funding, even though only a 10% funding rate. 
    • Add in survey info about need for education on keeping horse properties educationally friendly.
    • This will environmental education fosters critical thinking, problem solving and decision making skills on environmental topics.
    • Apply for a NERA NEED planning grant to organize the group to get funding for phone app, and EPA EE grant. Amy will take the lead on the NERA NEED grant for $10,000.
    • Outputs:
      • Apply for funding for phone app development for Equine Environmental Stewardship Self-Assessment phone App. Then build in links to find more information on where to find help or solutions.
      • Video segments for educate horse farm owners, youth, and others on Environmental BMPs on horse farms.
      • Host 2 (or more) hands on educational workshop for youth with parents and for adult farm owners, etc.
      • Produce a packet of information (CD/DVD) to be used in other locations by other educators.
    • Outcomes:
      • Need to work out these.
    • Next year’s meeting: asking Bridgett for MARE Center VA Tech to host 2017, in 2018 we will have Masoud host us at UMASS – Amhurst, other options for future meetings are UFL hosted by Carissa or Maine hosted by Robert Causey

Respectfully submitted by Carey Williams

NE1441 meeting

University of Maryland, College Park, MD

August 17-19, 2016

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Attendance: Amy, Carey, Robert, Ann, Masoud, Jessie, Carissa, Paul (on line: Krishona, Bridgett)

Dept Chair Introduction, Dr. Stall – at UMD for just over one year, very supportive of equine, 21 faculty, 35 grads, 279 undergrads in Animal and Avian science.  85% female and 95% no ag background.  Horse industry standpoint…highest density of horses in nation, about 80K horses with limited land area. Most is in Chesapeake Bay watershed. Opportunities in USDA for environmental research.

State Reports:

Krishona Martinson – MNU

• Warm season grazing with Annual Ryegrass as control
  • Found a 1:1 Ca:P ratio or inverted, consistently and a concern for Teff or other warm season grasses. Common in turf grasses.
  • Major nitrate problem, both vegetative and mature state, both in 2014 and 2015. In cattle should not be over 1000 ppm in horses can be 4000 ppm, but some are around 9000 ppm.  Teff grazed 24/7 were levels that could kill horses.
  • Crude protein is also high in all grasses, not surprised.
  • Amy will also be doing nitrate in her warm season grasses as well. Was suggested by Lori Warren at UFL, which has high nitrates also.
  • Tracked weather patterns, but near 30-year historical averages, minus one large rainfall in June. Grasses not planted until first week of June.
• Hay rake testing for ash content
  • Multiple cases of dirt in hay, over 8% is considered contamination
    • Merger rake, inverts hay
    • Side delivery rake
    • Wheel rake, ground driven
    • Rotary rake or gyro rake, latest and greatest
  • MN, PA and WI locations, standing and cutting, samples were taken after raking and post-baling
  • MN had sandy soil, ash about 11-15%, PA 9-10%, WI 9-10% with the Wheel rake having the most ash.
• Future studies include:
  • Low lignin alfalfa project hoping for funding
  • Grass-legume mixture study
  • Estimating weight of saddle horses and minis to add to the phone app.
  • Fly repellent effectiveness study ongoing – fly bands, fly boots, home remedy spray, and 2 commercial sprays plus control
  • Blood glucose and insulin while grazing
  • Grazing perennial ryegrass
  • Continuing equine pasture management program

Bridgett McIntosh – VA Tech

• Extension Programs
  • Horse Owner Education Seminar Series, funded by Horse Council and Horse Industry Board. Certificate driven, hay ID, emergency shoe removal, wrapping, acupuncture, 60 people total.
  • Spotlight on Stewardship: Equine Land Management Symposium, trouble with attendance, only 33 this year, larger last year.
  • Equine Forages Conferences, forum on fall panicum (Johnsongrass) toxicity, pasture and in hay, big problem in VA, grows this time of year. Low level liver toxicity.
  • 4-H horse youth program, at MARE Center, 20 youth groups come to focused on pasture, conservation, etc.
• Research Projects
  • Continuous vs Rotational Grazing, involving summer interns, and Program assistant oversees, sampled before and after grazing, no data ready yet. Preliminary ROT has higher nutrient content. 4 horses on each system.
  • Micro RNA for predicting laminitis, worked with Dr. Tanja Hess at Colorado State, used warmblood mares, and ponies.
  • Use of acetaminophen use in horses as alternative to Bute. Nothing negative yet, maybe environmental concerns?
  • Equine nutritional management survey, body condition index score (originally proposed by Waltham), doesn’t work for certain body types of horses, currently 233 measurements of sport horses.
  • Digestive buffer effects on horses with obese EMS horses
  • Seasonal grazing study on metabolic and digestive responses in horses, just cool seasons grasses, fecal samples, blood samples, equine microbiome
  • VA Working Landscapes Biodiversity study, run by citizen scientists.
  • Low intensity exercise on unfit TB
  • Novel turgrass study in collaboration with Amy Burk at UMD
• Teaching and Experiential Learning program
  • Summer program through British Equestrian program, used for credit, undergrads work hard and get a lot of experience, mini-boot camp, foaling, blood collection, visit DC, help host groups

Paul Siciliano – NCSU

• Research Update
  • Restricted grazing on body weight and activity, while grazing pasture can they lose weight by time and/or space restriction, 35 day period with two groups of 5 horses. Restricted to 0.14 ha, or continuous at 2.2 ha, looked at herbage mass. Max-Q tall fescue fields, restricted grazing did have a decrease in weight, 35 kg reduction, continuous horses gained 14 kg. Also monitored activity with a polar equine V800 activity monitor, did travel less than continuous group. Restricted required a high level of management, moved when fields were <3”.
• Outreach Update
  • NRCS Grazing Management video series, 12 short management videos, 3 complete so far, posted on YouTube.

Amy Burk – UMD

• Rotational Grazing Site
  • Educated over 700 individuals from 5 states, in 2013 grazing mares and foals, took a 2 year break from educational programs at cite. Thinking about making a multi-state or regional pasture program or seminar day to help maximize the number of people we reach and help decrease the work load on one individual faculty.
• Research update
  • Aubrey Lowrey’s Ph.D. project, development of a novel trufgrass grazing system for overweight horses.
    • Study 1: evaluate prevalence of obesity in MD, characterize control strategies, determine how managing obese horses impacts the operations, 96% of operations manage at least 1 obese horse, about 40% of the population was obese, about 24% of the ponies were laminitic, 70% of ponies used dry lots, dry lots caused more maintenance, 27% of obese ponies still got grain!
    • Study 2: wear tolerance of turfgrasses, 8 cool and 6 warm season grasses in replicated plots, aerator fitted with feet to simulate horses, once per week, high traffic, low traffic and control, study is ongoing.
    • Study 3: palatability of turfgrasses, done at the MARE Center, same turfgrasses, dry lot with acclimation period, graze for 8 hours, study is ongoing.
    • Study 4: evaluation of trufgrasses for obese horses, test it on obese horses, work with Waltham, will be seeding soon.

Thursday, August 18^th, 2016

Attendance: Amy, Carey, Robert, Ann, Masoud, Jessie, Carissa, Mike, Mark, Paul

Jessie Weir – UFL

• Research for Doctorate with Dr. Carissa Wickens as Ph.D. advisor
• 82% of ammonia emissions are related to agriculture
• Characterizing ammonia emissions on different protein levels in forage
  • Used 9 geldings with 11 days of diet adaptation
  • 2 warm seasons hays, Bahiagrass hay low CP, Bermuda grass hay high CP, plus grain to increase CP.
  • Also did invitro study at UDEL
  • Feces was highest total nitrogen in medium CP diet, Urine was highest in both Medium and High CP. CP digestibility ranged between 49 and 58%, similar to past literature in grass hay
  • Emissions rate showed high CP diet was highest with both feces and urine
• Field testing on ammonia emissions model in different housing types
  • Ventilation was difficult to measure, used indirect measure of metabolic CO2
  • Used closed barns in DE, using a dynamic flux chamber system to measure NH3 flux
  • Used FLIR thermos-imaging camera to determine the area of the stall that was wet, measured 5 min / stall location with 5 locations in each stall, about 4-5 stalls per barn
  • Surveyed management practices and barn characteristics, estimated horses CP intake, sampled dirty bedding as well.
  • Bedded on straw is highest NH3 emissions on straw with broodmares after inside overnight.
• Want to take the further to test aversion to NH3 with horse behavior using a head feeding box designed by an ag engineer at UDEL.

Carissa Wickens – UFL

• Extension programs
  • FL is catching up to the Mid-Atlantic, dept of ag, DEP, university is focused on water quality, focusing on BMP education, also doing a needs assessment for what equipment horse farms need to deal with manure removal.

Masoud Hashemi – UMASS

• Blue Star farm sanctuary for draft horses, needed BMPs to help with water quality, had direct access to stream, turned to vegetative area with no access to stream, manure duped directly on stream, now aeriated compost pile, farm sells compost.
• Campus farm now has water fenced off with a controlled water crossing and heavy use areas with several different types of footing (6), with description of each for educational purposes.
• Installed about 20-25 BMPs over two farm in the last few years.

Robert Causey – UME

• Abatement of S Equi in compost, MS of Alex Garcia
  • After seeding compost piles with S. Equi the organisms was gone in less than 24 hours. Sterilized horse bedding, how long would S Equi last? Within 24 hours when non-sterilized but over 48 hours in sterile environment. Dried bedding was less able to get rid of S Equi than if not dried.  After dried more water was added back to get range of moisture, very dry S Equi survived for several days, at about 24 to 36 day removal of S Equi at about 30-50% moisture. S Equi needs physical contact to survive.
  • Working on waste hay elimination at the college farm.
  • Also thinking about Antibiotic Stewardship

Ann Swinker – PSU

• Environmental stewardship programs, surveys came back positive with a lot of positive change towards rotational grazing, manure pads, other BMPs installed.
• Manure management plan writing, organized workshops and one on one writing
• Works closely with other organizations
• Trying to encourage people to do no-till drilling, so purchased 2 8-foot no-till drills to help horse farm owners, only reseeded 20 farms (1 pasture on each), other drill is in SE PA with another agent who will use it. 7 farms had their own and were able to use it. 8 farms were able to broadcast seed or frost-free seeding.
• Parasite project run by Donna Foulk, $150K NE SARE grant
  • Whole farm approach to manure and parasites, too much resistance with de-wormers, day long workshop with horse owners, farms collect fecal samples, provide fecal egg count procedures, de-wormers are provided, farms are checked for parasite resistance.
  • All farms had a high shedder, some horses have good immunity, 95% of farms determined effectiveness of de-worming program, project reduced fear of parasite overload problems, they learned how to do their own testing, some purchased own microscope, 68% took steps to improve pastures, 45% remove manure from pastures
  • 43% of farms had Pyrantel resistance, 86% had Fenbendazole resistance.

Mike Westendorf – Rutgers

• An Evening of Wine and Equine – Environmental Stewardship, run with NRCS in NJ to get people signed up for funding with NRCS, educated in the process of BMPs they can use on their farm to help increase their environmental stewardship.
• Waste to Worth conference in April, in Raleigh, North Carolina, want to have another equine symposium. Will have a one day rate for the conference on the equine day. 
• Send Mike a list of accomplishments, papers and grants on program related activities. Due 60 days after meeting, but please get Mike reports ASAP.
• Want to look at projects related to BMP adoption on farms, what drives adoption? Neighbor complaints, NRCS funding, etc? Come up with a profile for adoptions.
• Compare composting standards in NJ, with more intensive standards for composing.

Carey Williams – Rutgers

• Laura Kenny’s MS project: Rotational vs. Continuous grazing on horse condition, pasture quality and soil
  • First a comparison of vegetative cover methods was performed. The study looked at 2 different line transect methods, a step point method and the pasture evaluation disk designed by Penn State.  The results showed that these methods can be used interchangeably but due to ease of performing the method the Step Point method was used for future studies.
  • First year of the rotational grazing project found that horse condition did not differ between systems but horses did have a decrease in body weight, body condition and body fat during the winter months, which then increased again in the spring. Soil measure also did not differ, it is thought that the compaction and water infiltration might need more than a one year time period to see differences.  Pasture condition was different with the rotational system having higher sward height in the late fall and spring, and the herbage mass being greater in the spring.  Vegetative cover was also different with less weeds in the rotational system near the end of the first year.  Greater differences are expected in year 2.  The project will continue until the end of the second full grazing season.   
• 24 hr sugar study in collaboration with Amy Burk at UMD
  • Blood, feces and pasture samples were taken every 4 hours over a 24 hour period in June, August and October of 2015, one year after the horses were grazing in each of the rotational or continuous systems.
  • Glucose and Insulins are done but need to be analyzed , results were from an undergraduate project using only one month of data.
  • In June there were no differences in glucose or insulin between systems, fecal pH and sugar content in the forage also was not different between systems. Several sample times were different but no pattern was found.  More analysis of data will come.
• Future Studies: waiting on a grant to look at grazing preference using GPS monitors that can measure elevation of head to see when horses are grazing, also look at microbiome in combination with time of day and season.

Kim Kroll – NE SARE

• Very applied program, bench science is not where funding goes, really focused on farmer education.
• Congress annually gives SARE funds, proposals must explain how funds will be used to help farmers.
• 4 regional councils that set priorities, non-profits, agencies, land grants, etc.
• Writing grants is a team approach, must have farmer input
• Research and Education, Farmer/Rancher, Professional Development, Graduate Student, Ag Professional + Producer Partnerships
• Sustainable pest and weed management, crop diversification, nutrient management, soil quality, stewardship of the land, rotational grazing, etc.
• SARE Outreach, library of practical how-to books, medial outreach, a portfolio, conference sponsorships, on line resources…
• Impact: 79% of producers said they improved soil quality, etc. Lots of impact!
• State coordinators also have pot of money to use for special initiatives, pilots etc. Contact state coordinators.

Thur. PM in DC, Grant meetings:

• Environmental (EPA) Education Grant Program (meeting with Karen Scott)
• General grants program:
  • Total level of funding - $3 to $3.5 million
  • 38% of budget to education grants
  • 25% of budget to teacher education
    • (didn’t capture in my notes what the remaining percentage goes towards)
  • Two main types of grants:
    • Local grants - $90,000
    • Model grants (can be multi-state/regional) - $190,000
  • EPA is mandated to increase environmental awareness and stewardship
  • Accept applications on all environmental topics, but must focus on education
  • Best resources are RFP and FQA
  • Fiscal year 2017 not yet established, call for proposals likely will not be released until spring 2017
  • Funding rate is less than 10% (e.g. previously have received 476 applications and typically fund between 30-35 projects). Many not funded due to not following RFP or grammar and misspellings in proposal.
  • Proposals (work plan/methods) limited to 8 pages.
  • Cannot include construction or training of environmental professionals in the budget, however these stipulations are not well defined. Recommended referring to EPA statute/law (?).
  • Proposals cannot be simply outreach, rather projects have to educate, e.g. through workshops (more than just meetings). Pre and post-knowledge assessments. Education and teaching resulting in behavior change/problem solving.
  • Proposal must address an important environmental issue (why is this project needed/important). Lit review/justification with references cited (references not included in page count).
  • List of past proposals/funded projects available online (awards since 1992).

Friday, August 19, 2016

Attendance: Amy, Carey, Robert, Ann, Masoud, Jessie, Carissa, Paul

• Send state reports to Mike ASAP.
• Journal reviews:
  • Protein Metabolism is published JEVS Vol. 45: 78-86.
  • Environment Protein Environment is published JEVS Vol. 45:98-106.
  • Pasture methods paper is out for review in JEVS.
  • Manure review, Masoud revised, Mike sent back out for another review. Need to add more than storage facilities, i.e. aeriated compost, alternative uses of compost, etc.  Authors are Ann, Masoud and Mike.  Carissa and Robert will be added as authors. Carey will send an email to get things moving again.
• Future Grants and research
  • Yesterday’s meetings. NERA NEED planning grants, up to $10,000 to plan future grants, SARE grad student grants will be a good venue for pasture and environmental research, SE SARE is not crazy about horses, Paul and Carissa will meet with advisors to help get that changed, need to get producers involved.
  • Masoud suggested the DEP 319 grants to implement water quality BMP’s and do education. He says those are great grants.
  • • Extension Risk Management Education is a good area to submit for. Good with Regulatory aspect, economic impact, water quality aspect. Innovative tools to tie in with overall goal. Carissa wants to take a lead on this proposal, an

Short Term Outcomes:

Rutgers University: First year of the rotational grazing project found that horse condition did not differ between systems but horses did have a decrease in body weight, body condition and body fat during the winter months, which then increased again in the spring.

A comparison of vegetative cover methods was performed. The study looked at 2 different line transect methods, a step point method and the pasture evaluation disk designed by Penn State.  The results showed that these methods can be used interchangeably but due to ease of performing the method the Step Point method was used for future studies.

An outreach to horse farmers was conducted with USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service assistance.  This resulted in at least 30 horse farms signing up for conservation programs and funding.

University of Massachusetts: Blue Star farm sanctuary for draft horses needed BMPs to help with water quality and had direct access to stream.  Farm created a vegetative area with no access to stream.  Previously manure was dumped directly on stream, now aeriated compost pile, farm sells compost.

University of Maine:  After seeding compost piles with Streptococcus Equi the organisms was gone in less than 24 hours. In sterilized horse bedding, the question washow long would S. Equi last?  Within 24 hours when non-sterilized but over 48 hours in sterile environment.  Dried bedding was less able to destroy S. Equi than if not dried.  S Equi needs physical contact to survive.

Pennsylvania State University:  A survey of horse farm parasited showed that all farms had a high shedder animal, some horses have good immunity, 95% of farms involved determined effectiveness of de-worming programs, project.  Producers learned how to do their own testing, some purchased own microscope, 68% took steps to improve pastures, 45% remove manure from pastures, 43% of farms tested for parasiticide resisance had Pyrantel resistance, 86% had Fenbendazole resistance. 

Univerisy o Florida:  Effect of diet was studied on ammonia emissions.  Feces was highest total nitrogen in Medium CP diet, rrine was highest in both Medium and High CP. CP digestibility ranged between 49 and 58%, similar to past literature in grass hay.  The emissions rate showed high CP diet was highest with both feces and urine.  Horses edded on straw hed the highest ammonia emissions on straw.

North Carolina State University: Studied restricted grazing on body weight and activity to determine if horses grazing pasture can lose weight by time and/or space restriction.  A 35 day study period with two groups of 5 horses.  Restricted group had 0.14 ha, continuous had 2.2 ha. Wne Max-Q Tall Fescue was restricted grazing horses did have a decrease in weight, 35 kg reduction, continuous horses gained 14 kg. 

University of Minnesota:  Studied warm season grazing with Annual Ryegrass as a control.  Found a 1:1 Ca:P ratio or inverted, consistently and a concern for Teff or other warm season grasses.  Found major nitrate problem, both vegetative and mature state, both in 2014 and 2015. Teff grazed 24/7 were levels that could kill horses. Crude protein is also high in all grasses, not surprised.  Will be doing nitrate follow-ups as will Amy Burk at Maryland and Lori Warren at Florida.

Outputs:

Several of the the team members participated in the Annual Waste to Worth Conference, an Inernational Animal Waste Management Conference.  Paul Siciliano. Carey Williams, Ann Swinker, Robert Causey, and Jessie Weir presented some of their latest research findings.  These are online as a proceedings at: http://articles.extension.org/pages/63747/waste-to-worth-2017.

North Carolina State University: NRCS Grazing Management video series, 12 short management videos, 3 complete so far, posted on YouTube.

Activities:

University of Minnesota:  Equine Pasture Management Program that enrolls producers for for on-farm consultation, data collection, and eduction.

Virginia Tech University:  Horse Owner Education Seminar Series, funded by Horse Council and Horse Industry Board.  Producers will receive a certificate, and learn hay ID, emergency shoe removal, wrapping, acupuncture, 60 attendees  total.

University of Maryland: Regiona rotational grazing program educated over 700 individuals from 5 states.

University of Pennsylvania: Environmental Stewardship Short Courses conducted.
8-12 hours of education and hands-on experiences designed to provide horse owners with comprehensive knowledge and skills necessary to implement environmentally and economically sustainable farm management practices (56,020 acres). To date, 2,801 farm managers have completed 97 short courses offered throughout Pennsylvania and in eastern NY.

“Parasite Control: A Whole Farm Approach” data is collected with the involvement of participating horse owners.  The program conducted four educational workshops on parasites, pastures and manure management, and held workday to collect data to document parasite resistance to different de-wormers.  To date, 226 farm managers and veterinarians attended the short course; and at this time 81 farms representing 681 horses are enrolled as partners in the project. They monitor strongyle egg production following established protocol, and evaluating product efficacy by conducting pre and post deworming egg counts.

Rutgers University: Evening of Wine and Equine – Environmental Stewardship Program, run with NRCS in NJ to get people signed up for funding with NRCS, educated in the process of BMPs they can use on their farm to help increase their environmental stewardship.  This successful program is being contniued in the summer of 2017.

Milestones:

Most states represented in the project have implemented environmental stewardshi and or pasture management programs.

Most states are coooperating in rotational grazing projects or other pasture management projects.  North Carolina State University, Rutgers University, the University of Maryland, Virginia Tech University, and the University of Minnesota are conducting projects.

1. L. Trottier, R. C. Bott, A. Woodward, E.A. Greene, C. A. Williams, M. L. Westendorf, A. M. Swinker, S.L. Mastellar, and K. M. Martinson. 2016.   Gastrointestinal Nitrogen Metabolism of Equids and Impact on Protein Requirement.  J. Equine Vet. Sci. 45:78-86. (http://www.j-evs.com/article/S0737-0806(16)30283-0/pdf).
2. C. Bott, A. Woodward, E.A. Greene, N. L. Trottier, C. A. Williams, M. L. Westendorf, A. M. Swinker, S. L. Mastellar, and K. M. Martinson.  2016.   Environmental Implications of Nitrogen Output on Horse Operations: A Review.  J. Equine Vet. Sci. 45:98-106. (http://www.j-evs.com/article/S0737-0806(15)00549-3/pdf).