Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The 2019 Northeast Pasture Consortium (NEPC) Conference was held at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg-Hershey Conference Center & Hotel on February 19 and 20.  It was held in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Forage Conference that was held on February 21 at the same venue.  Fifty-seven people from ten states participated in our Conference despite another winter storm and partial federal government shutdown that kept USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service participation down to only 3 employees from Rhode Island and one from Maryland.  USDA-Agricultural Research Service scrambled to get their employees to our Conference in very good numbers having been only restored from furlough status the Friday before our Conference began.  Our Conference was shortened by 6 hours this year as it followed a federal holiday and due to inclement weather on Wednesday, the last day of the conference. We managed to get in our five technical sessions, they were: How to Transition a Dairy Farm from Confinement Feeding to Pasture, Promoting Clover Growth in Pastures:  Why? – New & Old reasons, and How?,  Meat Marketing Strategies with Small Meat Processors, Dairy Issues: Grass Only Milk, A1 versus A2 beta-casein milk, and Milk Fatty Acid Testing to Adjust Dairy Rations, and Managing Pastures before, during, and after Weather Extremes.   We also held our Producer Showcase session Tuesday evening with speakers Doug and Julie Martin of Pleasant Valley Jerseys and Don Cauffman, an Angora goat producer that markets their wool as finished apparel products.  We reinstituted farmer panels in two of our technical sessions at this conference.  These were helpful as they brought a practitioners approach to transitioning dairy cows from confinement feeding to pasture and managing pastures before, during, and after weather extremes.

The business meeting was held after the Producer Showcase ended Tuesday evening, February 19 as the snowstorm was predicted change over to an ice storm Wednesday afternoon.  We decided to end the Conference Wednesday morning at 12:00 noon. 

A report from Sarah Goslee on Internet and Social Media was handed out to attendees that covered calendar year 2018 achievements.  It is shown immediately below.

Northeast Pasture Consortium

2018 Internet and Social Media Report

Sarah Goslee, sarah.goslee@usda.gov or grazingguide@gmail.com

Website: grazingguide.net

• In 2018, had 3,300 users, viewing 3,700 pages.
• 54% of visits came from the United States; six continents were represented.
• The most popular facts sheets described research on dung beetles, intestinal parasites, and pasture biodiversity.
• Popular pages include:

• events calendar.
• grazing dashboard.
• pasture plant guide.

 Social media

• Grazing Guide Facebook page has 87 followers
• @grazingguide twitter account has 82 followers
• NEPC also has Grazing Guide Flickr and YouTube channels.

New in 2018

• A NEPC MailChimp mailing list service, configured with both administrative and general membership email lists. This will allow people to sign themselves up for the general membership list to receive newsletters.

• The Northeast Pasture Consortium collection at the Internet Archive* (archive.org) has been created as a repository for consortium archives and past documents. This collection will enable permanent online storage for valuable information. All archive documents will also be indexed at grazingguide.net

If you have materials you think would be a good fit for a NEPC archive, please contact grazingguide@gmail.com to discuss next steps.

*"The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, the print disabled, and the general public. Our mission is to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge."

After briefly discussing Sarah’s report, Executive Director Jim Cropper opened up nominations for Public Sector 2019 Member-at-Large.  Jessica Williamson nominated Amanda Grev of the University of Maryland.  Jana Malot moved to close the nominations.  Cliff Hawbaker seconded the motion and the motion carried.  Amanda Grev accepted the nomination.  Jim Cropper then opened up the nominations for Private Sector 2019 Member-at-Large. Cliff Hawbaker nominated Glen Moyer, a Pennsylvania dairy farmer.  Clyde Bailey moved to close the nominations.  Kevin Jablonski seconded the motion and the motion carried.

In other business, Jim Cropper was directed to write a letter to Director, J. Scott Angle, of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture congratulating him on his appointment to head the Agency.  Scott is a former professor of soil science and Director of the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station and Maryland Cooperative Extension at the University of Maryland.

Dr. Ed Rayburn requested that Jim Cropper send him the Northeast Pasture Consortium letter head to him for some technical sheets he was developing for the Consortium.

Jim Cropper closed the business meeting by thanking Jennifer Colby and Gary Burley for their service on the NEPC Executive Committee for the past 4 years.  Jennifer had been a big help in writing and receiving approval for a grant proposal to put on the 2017 NEPC Conference that explored the scientific evidence on how fat intake affects human health and how animal diets can be manipulated to achieve less fat by feeding them more fresh grass and increasing the better fats in meat and milk.  Gary filled a vacated spot on our Executive Committee and with his vast experience as a pasture-based dairyman gave us sage advice at our teleconferences or later on via email.  Jim then announced that Fay Benson and Don Wild will be co-chairs of the Executive Committee in 2019 and until the end of the 2020 Conference.

The research and education needs breakout sessions yielded these priority needs:

2019 Research Priorities (2/20/19)

1. Explore new methods to transfer knowledge and information to increase adoption of research findings within the agriculture community; incorporate social science research into increased adoption and technology transfer.

• Including Farm Bureau to additionally influence regulations and legislations
• USDA-ARS—keep working with and building partnerships
• Seek new contact with USDA-NRCS Chief, commitment to encourage reps from every state (electronic options for joining?)
• Strengthen Extension research connections, work listservs and across communication methods
• University research connections, work listservs and across communication methods—use OREI funding opportunity
• Invite farmers from all NEPC states (Cedar Tree grant—NE states, could apply to USDA-OTT, USDA-NIFA Scott Angle)

2. Ecosystems Services and Disservices from Pasture Systems and Grazing Management:

• Impacts to riparian areas
• Impacts to water quality (citizen involvement)
• Wildlife benefits to adaptive grazing management
• Impacts of permanent stream and streambank exclusion from livestock grazing riparian area pastures
• Economic models for ecosystem service payments (measurement, payment, structure)
• Silvopasture contributions to carbon sequestration; adaptive strategy in changing climate conditions

3. Research adjustments in forage management needs in a changing climate;

• Regional management approaches (understanding variability)
• Species adaptation and evaluation (meadow fescue, use of annuals, increase in invasive plants)

4. Soil biology and management impacts on animal health and human health

• Small ruminant parasite research at WVU, Rhode Island, Cornell
• Red and white clover functions in animal and soil health, pollinators, forage and animal production
• Grazing management as it affects soil health (compaction, worms)

5. Further research in meat and dairy products regarding human nutrition and health;

• Fatty acid updates, importance of side chains on long chain FAs (Jana Kraft), and short chain FAs
• Artificial gut for milk digestibility
• Whole milk/fats
• Probiotics/prebiotics
• C3, C4 grasses, forbs, and effects on omega-3 content in milk and meat

6. Addressing the Heavy Use Area/Pasture interface (vegetation management)

• Comparison of options (deep-bed packs, composted packs, wood chips)
• Biological composition of bedded packs and livestock health (mastitis—John Barlow & Deb Neher)
• Bale grazing & in-field winter management/calving
• Species evaluation for vegetated heavy use areas

7. Farm profitability and upcoming cultural/societal changes

• Compare different philosophies, results, benchmarks.
• Development of artificial meat (and other animal products), and how will that affect our work, audience, research?
• Ecological/carbon footprint of animal production compared to ecological footprints of alternative products.
• Quality assurance program requirements; impacts on profitability

Short-term Outcomes:

1. The 2019 Northeast Pasture Consortium (NEPC) Conference was held at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg-Hershey Conference Center & Hotel on February 19 and 20.  It was held in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Forage Conference that was held on February 21 at the same venue.  Fifty-seven people from ten states participated in our Conference despite another winter storm and partial federal government shutdown that kept USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service participation down to only 3 employees from Rhode Island and one from Maryland. USDA-Agricultural Research Service scrambled to get their employees to our Conference in very good numbers having been only restored from furlough status the Friday before our Conference began.  Our Conference was shortened by 6 hours this year as it followed a federal holiday and due to inclement weather on Wednesday, the last day of the conference. We managed to get in our five technical sessions, they were: How to Transition a Dairy Farm from Confinement Feeding to Pasture, Promoting Clover Growth in Pastures:  Why? – New & Old reasons, and How?,  Meat Marketing Strategies with Small Meat Processors, Dairy Issues: Grass Only Milk, A1 versus A2 beta-casein milk, and Milk Fatty Acid Testing to Adjust Dairy Rations, and Managing Pastures before, during, and after Weather Extremes.   We also held our Producer Showcase session Tuesday evening with speakers Doug and Julie Martin of Pleasant Valley Jerseys and Don Cauffman, an Angora goat producer that markets their wool as finished apparel products.  The research and education needs breakout sessions yielded these priority needs:

2019 Research Priorities (2/20/19)

A. Explore new methods to transfer knowledge and information to increase adoption of research findings within the agriculture community; incorporate social science research into increased adoption and technology transfer.

• Including Farm Bureau to additionally influence regulations and legislations
• USDA-ARS—keep working with and building partnerships
• Seek new contact with USDA-NRCS Chief, commitment to encourage reps from every state (electronic options for joining?)
• Strengthen Extension research connections, work listservs and across communication methods
• University research connections, work listservs and across communication methods—use OREI funding opportunity
• Invite farmers from all NEPC states (Cedar Tree grant—NE states, could apply to USDA-OTT, USDA-NIFA Scott Angle)

B. Ecosystems Services and Disservices from Pasture Systems and Grazing Management:

• Impacts to riparian areas
• Impacts to water quality (citizen involvement)
• Wildlife benefits to adaptive grazing management
• Impacts of permanent stream and streambank exclusion from livestock grazing riparian area pastures
• Economic models for ecosystem service payments (measurement, payment, structure)
• Silvopasture contributions to carbon sequestration; adaptive strategy in changing climate conditions

C. Research adjustments in forage management needs in a changing climate;

• Regional management approaches (understanding variability)
• Species adaptation and evaluation (meadow fescue, use of annuals, increase in invasive plants)

D. Soil biology and management impacts on animal health and human health

• Small ruminant parasite research at WVU, Rhode Island, Cornell
• Red and white clover functions in animal and soil health, pollinators, forage and animal production
• Grazing management as it affects soil health (compaction, worms)

E. Further research in meat and dairy products regarding human nutrition and health;

• Fatty acid updates, importance of side chains on long chain FAs (Jana Kraft), and short chain FAs
• Artificial gut for milk digestibility
• Whole milk/fats
• Probiotics/prebiotics
• C3, C4 grasses, forbs, and effects on omega-3 content in milk and meat

F. Addressing the Heavy Use Area/Pasture interface (vegetation management)

• Comparison of options (deep-bed packs, composted packs, wood chips)
• Biological composition of bedded packs and livestock health (mastitis—John Barlow & Deb Neher)
• Bale grazing & in-field winter management/calving
• Species evaluation for vegetated heavy use areas

G. Farm profitability and upcoming cultural/societal changes

• Compare different philosophies, results, benchmarks.
• Development of artificial meat (and other animal products), and how will that affect our work, audience, research?
• Ecological/carbon footprint of animal production compared to ecological footprints of alternative products.
• Quality assurance program requirements; impacts on profitability

2. We received a $5000 grant from USDA-Agricultural Research Service to fund our farmer stakeholders’ travel expenses to and from the conference this year and conference room rental.  This was a big financial help to augment the money received from conference registration fees.

3. The Northeast Pasture Consortium by-laws were completed and approved at the May 18, 2018 Executive Committee teleconference.

4. Funding was restored to the USDA-ARS Dairy and Functional Foods Research Unit at Wyndmoor, PA.  With the continuing drop in milk consumption in the US, it is vital that more research on bioactive compounds in milk be done to see if there are additional health benefits to drinking milk or consuming other milk derived dairy products.  This unit is also looking deeper into how milk proteins are digested in the human gut.  This too could lead to finding ways to enhance their absorption in the GI tract and make milk a more attractive health food.

5. The Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship Program is active in 7 Northeast Region states: Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.  This program has Master Graziers who take apprentices under their wing to mentor them on pasture-based dairy farming.  The apprentices work at the farm for 4000 hours with pay.  Currently, there are 9 Master Graziers in Maine, 1 in Massachusetts, 2 in New Hampshire, 2 in New Jersey, 23 in New York, 14 in Pennsylvania, and 20 in Vermont.  We showcased this program at our 2016 Conference in Freeport, ME and toured a Master Grazier’s farm nearby.

6. University of  Vermont received a grant from the Cedar Tree Foundation for Developing Measurement and Increasing Capacity of a Coordinated New England Grazing Network.  The 6 New England states and NEPC are involved.  The goal is to increase the number of regenerative grazing farms (adaptive grazing management or management intensive grazing adopted).

Outputs:

1. Two newsletters were published, one in August 2018 and another in late December 2018 (later revised in early January 2019), and distributed primarily as attachments to emails to all the membership.  These kept the members informed about the annual conference and a wide range of topics, such as the continuing controversy on saturated fats found in meat and milk and their real effect on cardiovascular disease and cholesterol levels in human consuming them, when and how to renovate pastures, how to raise and market pasture-finished beef, and ten reasons to add legumes to pastures.  They also announced the Pennsylvania Forage Conference.
2. The proceedings of the 2019 annual conference and meeting are in draft form.
3. The Power Point presentations, poster paper abstracts, and speaker biographical sketches are placed on the Consortium website, NEPC Grazing Guide, for post-meeting access.
4. Fifty-six publications or website series were published in the past year.  The website series were directed towards pasture-based farmers to give them suggestions on how to improve their pasture systems and give them calendar of pasture events around the Region.  The rest of the publications were research papers or abstracts on pasture-related issues.  See Publications document for the cited publications and educational websites.
5. The remaining copies of the University of Kentucky publication Producer’s Guide to Pasture-Based Beef Finishingwere handouts at the registration desk for the beef farmer participants at the 2019 NEPC Conference.
6. Version 6.0 of the Chesapeake Bay Model is continuing to be tested in 2019 with the new data sets being used to determine sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus loading to Bay waters.  Mr. Cropper contributed advise and literature reviewed input on the pasture landuse contribution to those loads.  There is still too much reliance on fencing off streams in riparian pastures as an easy way to reduce those loads.  However, if the pastures next to the ungrazed buffer are not managed to keep good soil cover on them, the usual small area and width of ungrazed buffer on the stream side of the livestock exclusion fence will do little to attenuate N and P loads to the stream. Eventually that sod will disappear as woody vegetation invades the excluded zone.  Sediment reduction may be reduced initially by keeping heavy livestock traffic off the streambanks, but this is very situational.  Trees growing on streambanks create eddies that cause bank erosion often undermining those trees eventually. Unarmored streams that meander down the valley erode along the outside curves regardless of whether they receive animal traffic or not when streams are at bank-full flow during major runoff events.  This happens in floodplain cropfields just as much as in bottomland pastures and in urban areas and wildlands.
7. As an outcome of our Strategic Planning Workshop in 2017, these draft documents have been produced by two of our subcommittees in late 2017 and early 2018:

• Northeast Pasture Consortium (NEPC) Draft Bylaws 04/19/2018 (approved on 05/18/2018)
• NEPC Business Plan Draft 08/21/2017 (Still pending – more rewrite required)

Activities:

1. The 2019 Annual Conference and Meeting of the Consortium was held on February 19 and 20 at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg-Hershey Hotel and Conference Center in Grantville, PA.    Nine poster papers were presented.  Two concurrent sessions, Private Sector and Public Sector groups, on research and education needs were held from 10 to 11 AM on February 20. The results of those two sessions are posted in the item 1 narrative of Short-Term Outcomes.
2. The Stakeholder Action Committee Chair, Angus Johnson, sent a letter to USDA-Agricultural in Research Service leadership to reinstate funding proposed to be cut by 2.269 million dollars from the fiscal year 2019 ARS budget to the Dairy and Functional Food Research Unit at Wyndmoor, PA.  This would have virtually wiped out the research unit.  Angus also telephoned the Northeast Area Director of USDA-ARS to ask him to reconsider this action.
3. The Northeast Grazing Guide website for the Consortium is at: http://grazingguide.net/. Dr. Sarah Goslee of the Agricultural Research Service Research Unit at University Park, PA is our web master. It is updated as new material arrives.  More YouTube videos were posted to the site this year.  We are also posting pasture-related seminars, tours, and conferences that are being held around the Region.  A NEPC MailChimp mailing list service was added and a NEPC collection at the Internet Archive (archive.org) has been created as a repository for consortium archives and past documents.
4. We continued the sponsorship program this year to encourage agribusinesses to support the 2019 Northeast Pasture Consortium.  A one-page flyer was updated and disseminated to promote the program.
5. Jim Cropper, Executive Director, participated with the Chesapeake Bay Agricultural Work Group via teleconferencing and email during 2018-2019.  He also participated in a face-to-face meeting of the Work Group on June 20th and June 21st in Lancaster County, PA. The first day was a field tour that looked at a wetland restoration project in the midst of a pasture, a confinement dairy manure system where the barn and barnyard are alongside a small creek, and a small dairy farm where traditional manure storage facilities are cost-prohibitive to install.  In the last case, it would be far better to pasture the dairy herd for as long as practicable.
6. Teleconferences are held monthly by the Executive Committee to plan the next annual conference and meeting and address other issues that come up during the year.
7. In November, the NEPC agreed to partner with UVM on Cedar Tree Foundation grant proposal and wrote a support letter for inclusion in the application.  It was approved for funding.
8. Continuing education credit (CEU) requests were sent to the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) and the American Forage & Grassland Council (AFGC) for certified crop advisors and certified forage and grassland professionals, respectively, for the 2019 Annual Northeast Pasture Consortium Conference and Meeting. 8.5 CEU's were approved prior to the conference for both certified crop advisors and forage & grassland professionals that attended the conference.  The completed sign-in sheets were sent to ASA and AFGC after the Conference.
9. Revised and updated research and education need priorities at the 2019 Northeast Pasture Consortium Annual Conference and Meeting.
10. Comments on USDA-ARS NP306, Product Quality and New Uses National Program on Nonfood Priorities were uploaded to their website on 02/12/19 at the request of Dairy & Functional Foods Research Unit Leader, Peggy Tomasula.  Two priorities were given:

• Dairy whey can be a source for edible films so that the whey does not end up in the waste stream. Continued research on this would be helpful.
• Dairy cow milk is a promising source for oligosaccharide recovery, as underutilized dairy processing streams in whey processing were recently shown to contain oligosaccharides similar to those found in human milk. Milk oligosaccharides are receiving increasing attention in the field of human health research due to their theorized ability to improve health status and serve as prebiotics for developing infants.  The ability of oligosaccharides to manipulate intestinal bacterial communities could also be significant for adults, as specific gut microbial compositions have been linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes.

11. A letter of support was sent to A. Fay Benson, Program Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cortland County, for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program proposal entitled: Training the Next Generation of Dairy Graziers in New York. This will support and expand the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship Program in the State of New York.

12. Letter was sent to the USDA Secretary of Agriculture, Honorable Sonny Perdue, concerning the continuous purchase and use of non-organic dairy heifers by large organic dairies instead of heifers raised by organic rules from birth.  It is putting our Northeast Region dairy farmers at an economic disadvantage that raise their own heifers under the USDA organic rules.  It also reduces their market for organically raised heifers since those heifers cost more to raise and buy than nonorganic heifers that are then transitioned to being organic the year before their first calf.

Milestones:

1. USDA-Agricultural Research Service resumed funding the Northeast Pasture Consortium after a nine-year hiatus.  This is essential to provide a financial incentive (by paying their travel expenses) to bring pasture-based farmers to come to our conference since it is a 2-day commitment of time away from their farm when economic times are not good.  They provide us with needed feedback on what research work and education needs are of most benefit to help them stay economically viable while at the same time doing it in an environmentally sensitive manner.
2. Seven Northeast Region states out of 12 states nationwide are active in the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship Program.  Seventy-one Master Graziers from the Northeast Region (out of 180 nation-wide) have volunteered to train young aspiring dairy men and women by having them come to work on their grazing dairy farms for a salary while learning all there is to know about feeding, caring, and milking grazing dairy cattle and operating the equipment needed to meet their herd’s daily needs and handle the milk produced.

Names in bold are Northeast Pasture Consortium members as contributing authors.  Publications listed in alphabetical order by NEPC member principal author.

Bishopp, Troy.  2018-2019.  The Grass WhispererWebsite.  Athttp://thegrasswhisperer.com/.  Most recent articles appear on page 1.  At the bottom of the screen (be sure to scroll down to the very bottom), click on page number to see other articles on pasture management thoughts Troy has and events Troy has attended.  Always entertaining and educational..

Smith, Richard G., Sonja K. Birthisel, Sidney C. Bosworth, Bryan Brown, Thomas M. Davis, Eric R. Gallandt, Ann Hazelrigg, Eric Venturini, and Nicholas D. Warren.  2018. Environmental correlates with germinable weed seedbanks on organic farms across Northern New England.  Weed Sci. 66:78–93.

Zang, Y., Silva, L. H. P., Ghelichkhan, M., Miura, M., Whitehouse, N. L., Chizzotti, M. L., & Brito, A. F.2019. Incremental amounts of rumen-protected histidine increase plasma and muscle histidine concentrations and milk protein yield in dairy cows fed a metabolizable protein-deficient diet. Journal of Dairy Science, 102(5), 4138-4154. doi:10.3168/jds.2018-15780 

Isenberg, B. J., Soder, K. J., Pereira, A. B. D., Standish, R., & Brito, A. F.2019. Production, milk fatty acid profile, and nutrient utilization in grazing dairy cows supplemented with ground flaxseed. Journal of Dairy Science, 102(2), 1294-1311. doi:10.3168/jds.2018-15376

Ghedini, C. P., Moura, D. C., Santana, R. A. V., Oliveira, A. S., & Brito, A. F.2018. Replacing ground corn with incremental amounts of liquid molasses does not change milk enterolactone but decreases production in dairy cows fed flaxseed meal. Journal of Dairy Science, 101(3), 2096-2109. doi:10.3168/jds.2017-13689

Brossillon, V., Reis, S. F., Moura, D. C., Galvão, J. G. B., Oliveira, A. S., Côrtes, C., & Brito, A. F.2018. Production, milk and plasma fatty acid profile, and nutrient utilization in Jersey cows fed flaxseed oil and corn grain with different particle size. Journal of Dairy Science, 101(3), 2127-2143. doi:10.3168/jds.2017-13478

Colby, J., K. Hagen, J.P. Alvez, C. Herrick.  2018-2019.Vermont Pasture Network Calendar. On-line.  Monthly.

Brackenrich, Justin and Sjoerd W. Duiker. 2018. Avoid Overgrazing Your Pastures.  Pennsylvania State University.  https://extension.psu.edu/avoid-overgrazing-your-pastures

Duiker, Sjoerd W. 2019.  Cropping Options After Small Grain Harvest - Instead of leaving the land fallow after small grains, double crop soybeans, plant cover crops, or plant annual forages for grazing to improve your operation. Pennsylvania State University.  https://extension.psu.edu/cropping-options-after-small-grain-harvest 1 p.

Duiker, Sjoerd W. and Jessica A. Williamson. 2019.. Extending the Grazing Season with Plant Diversity,Agronomy Facts 79.  Pennsylvania State University. As a PDF, 6 p.  https://extension.psu.edu/extending-the-grazing-season-with-plant-diversity

Duiker, Sjoerd W.  2018. Grazing Crop Residues and Cover Crops.  Pennsylvania State University.  https://extension.psu.edu/grazing-crop-residues-and-cover-crops

Duiker, Sjoerd W.  2019. Grazing Management to Avoid Soil Compaction.  Pennsylvania State University.  https://extension.psu.edu/grazing-management-to-avoid-soil-compaction

Duiker, Sjoerd W. and Jessica A. Williamson. 2018. Integrating Grazing in No-Till Systems on a Grain Farm.  As a PDF, 6 p.  Pennsylvania State University.  https://extension.psu.edu/integrating-grazing-in-no-till-systems-on-a-grain-farm

Duiker, Sjoerd W., Wilson, D. O., and J. A. Williamson. 2018. No-Till Annuals to Beat the Summer Slump on a Dairy Farm. Pennsylvania State University.  As a PDF, 4 p. https://extension.psu.edu/no-till-annuals-to-beat-the-summer-slump-on-a-dairy-farm

Duiker, Sjoerd W. 2018. Soil Compaction When Grazing in a Wet Summer. Pennsylvania State University. https://extension.psu.edu/soil-compaction-when-grazing-in-a-wet-summer

Firrman, J., Liu, L.S., Van Den Abbeele, P., Tanes, C., Bittinger, K., Tomasula, P.M.2019. Applying in vitro culturing technology to establish and evaluate the human gut microbiota. Journal of Visualized Experiments. 144:1-12. https://doi.org/10.3791/59054.

Firrman, J., Liu, L.S., Arango Argoty, G., Zhang, L., Tomasula, P.M., Wang, M., Pontious, S., Kobori, M., Xiao, W. 2018. Analysis of temporal changes in growth and gene expression for commensal gut microbes in response to the polyphenol naringenin. Microbial Insights. 11:1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178636118775100.

Gilker, R. and K. Voth.  2018-2019. On PastureWebsite.  Published weekly.  At: On Pasture,4435 E San Carlos Place N, Tucson, AZ 85712.  R. Gilker is a Northeast Pasture Consortium member from NY.  https://onpasture.com/

Gonet, J.M., Goslee, S.C. 2019. Understanding agricultural species distributions in the greenhouse, field, and landscape[abstract]. US-International Association for Landscape Ecology. p. 1.

Gonet, J.M., Goslee, S.C. 2019. Let it snow! Snow cover reduces freezing mortality in perennial ryegrass[abstract]. Northeast Pasture Consortium Annual Meeting Proceedings. p. 1.

Gonet, J.M., Goslee, S.C. 2018. Seedling identification guide for northeast pastures. Northeast Pasture Consortium Annual Meeting Proceedings. P. 1.

Goossen, C.P., J. Kraft, and S.C. Bosworth.  2018. Fatty acids decrease in pearl millet forage from relative increases of pseudostem. Agric. Environ. Lett. 3:180016. doi:10.2134/ael2018.03.001 https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/ael/pdfs/3/1/180016?search-result=1

Goossen, C.P., Bosworth, S.C., Darby, H.M., Kraft, J.  2018. Microwave pretreatment allows accurate fatty acid analysis of small fresh weight (100x202f;g) dried alfalfa, ryegrass, and winter rye samples. Animal Feed Science and Technology https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2018.02.014

Guindon, Casey.  2019. Spring Fertility Management in Grass Forages - Early spring is the time to make the most of the flush of growth from our cool-season pastures and hayfields.  Pennsylvania State University.  https://extension.psu.edu/spring-fertility-management-in-grass-forages

Hashemi, M., Corcoran, S., and Stephen Herbert. 2017. Reseeding pastures and hay fields. As a PDF, 5 p. University of Massachusetts. https://ag.umass.edu/crops-dairy-livestock-equine/fact-sheets/reseeding-pastures-hayfields-17-01  (Not reported earlier)

Hoffman, K.  2018-2019. NYGC Grazette Newsletter. NY Grazinglands Coalition. Published monthly.  To subscribe contact: karen.hoffman2@ny.usda.gov  

Liu, L.S., Firrman, J., Tanes, C., Bittinger, K., Thomas-Gahring, A.E., Wu, G.D., Van Den Abbeel, P., Tomasula, P.M.2018. Establishing a mucosal gut microbial community in vitro using an artificial simulator. PLoS One. 13(7):1-20. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197692.

Meader, Joyce. 2018. Milkweed Toxicity to Livestock. In Milkweed Asclepias.  As a PDF, p.5 of 5. UConn Home & Garden Education Center.  http://www.ladybug.uconn.edu/FactSheets/asclepias-milkweeds.php

Rayburn, E. B., Shaffer, K., and M. Minch.  2018. Forage and Livestock Management after a Flood. ANRPub#16-255. West Virginia University.https://extension.wvu.edu/agriculture/pasture-hay-forage/flooded

Rotz, C.A. 2018. Whole-farm dynamics of forage and grazinglands in a changing climate[abstract]. Agronomy Society of America, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America Meeting. 1.

Rotz, C.A., Asem-Hiablie, S., Place, S., Thoma, G. 2019. A national assessment of the environmental impacts of beef cattle production. Waste to Worth Conference, April 22-26,2019,Minneapolis,Minnesota. p. 1.

Rotz, C.A., Asem-Hiablie, S., Place, S., Thoma, G. 2018. An environmental assessment of beef cattle production in the United States. American Society of Animal Science. P.1.

Rotz, C.A., Hristov, A. 2019. Are our cattle causing an increase in global warming? National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Annual Meeting. P. 1.

Rotz, C.A., Hristov, A. 2019. Are our cattle causing an increase in global warming[abstract]? Northeast Pasture Consortium Annual Meeting Proceedings. p. 1.

Asem-Hiablie, S., Rotz, C.A., Battagliese, T., Stackhouse-Lawson, K. 2018. A life cycle assessment of the environmental impacts of beef in the united states. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-018-1464-6.

Asem-Hiablie, S., Rotz, C.A., Stout, R.C., Place, S.E. 2018. Management characteristics of beef cattle production in the eastern United States. Professional Animal Scientist. 34(4):311-325. https://doi.org/10.15232/pas.2018-01728

Castano-Sanchez, J.P., Rotz, C.A., Karsten, H.D.2018. Elevated atmospheric CO2 effects on dairy crops in the Northeast US: comparing IFSM and DSSAT models to FACE data. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts. P. 1.

Cordeiro, M.R., Rotz, C.A., Kroebel, R., Beauchemin, K., Hunt, D., Bittman, S., Koenig, K.M., McKenzie, D.B. 2019. Prospects of increased dairy farm forage production under climate and land-use changes in Newfoundland, Canada. Agricultural Systems.9(1):2-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9010031.

Gunn, K.M., Holly, M.A., Veith, T.L.,Buda, A.R., Prasad, R., Rotz, C.A., Soder, K.J., Stoner, A. 2019. Projected heat stress challenges and abatement opportunities for U.S. milk production. PLoS One.14(3):1-21. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214665.

Veltman, K., Rotz, C.A., Chase, L., Cooper, J., Forest, C., Ingraham, P., Izaurralde, R., Jones, C.D., Nicholas, R., Ruark, M., Salas, W., Thoma, G., Jolliet, O. 2019. Environmental impacts of dairy production systems in the changing climate of the Northeast. Waste to Worth Conference, April 22-26,Minneapolis,Minnesota. p. 1.

Soder, K.J., Heins, B., Chester-Jones, H., Hafla, A., Rubano, M. 2018. Evaluation of sprouted barley fodder production systems on organic dairy farms in temperate regions of the United States. Proceedings of International Symposium on the Nutrition of Herbivores. P. 1.

Billman, E.D., Dillard, S.L.,Soder, K.J.2019. Forage brassicas: extending the grazing season with an alternative forage[abstract]. Extension Fact Sheets. p. 1.

Dillard, L., Hancock, D.W., Harmon, D.N., Mullinex, K.M., Beck, P.A., Soder, K.J. 2018. Animal performance and environmental efficiency of cool-and warm-season annual grazing systems. Journal of Animal Science.96:3491-3502. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/sky025

Dillard, L., Roca-Fernandez, A., Rubano, M., Elkin, K.R., Soder, K.J.2018. Enteric methane production and ruminal fermentation of forage brassica diets fed in continuous culture. Journal of Animal Science. 96:1362-1374. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/sky030.

Galvao Jr, J., Rangel, A., Brito, A., Silva, J., Fay Benson, A., Hafla, A., Darby, H., Soder, K.J., Kersbergen, R., Brossillon, V. 2018. Using milk somatic cell score to predict of milk yield losses of organic dairy farms in the Northeast United States. American Dairy Science Association Abstracts. P. 1

Hafla, A., Soder, K.J.,Brito, A., Kersbergen, R., Benson, F., Darby, H., Rubano, M., Dillard, L., Kraft, J., Reis, S. 2018. Impacts of seasonal variation and winter supplementation of ground whole flaxseed on milk fatty acid composition of organic dairy cows in the northeastern United States. Professional Animal Scientist. 34:397-409.

University of Rhode Island. 2018-2019. Northeast Small Ruminant Parasite Control website. https://web.uri.edu/sheepngoat/

University of Rhode Island. 2018-2019. Forage-based Parasite Control In Sheep and Goats In the Northeast U.S. https://web.uri.edu/sheepngoat/orei/

University of Rhode Island. 2018-2019. New Approaches for Improving Integrated Parasite Control Strategies for Small Ruminants in the Northeast.  https://web.uri.edu/sheepngoat/parasite-control/

Williamson, Jessica A., and Casey Guindon.  2019.  Annual Forage Alternatives to Corn Silage - Continued wet weather in many parts of the state has delayed corn planting. Take a look at some annual crops that may help to fill in your forage gap this year..  Pennsylvania State University.  https://extension.psu.edu/annual-forage-alternatives-to-corn-silage 1 p.

Williamson, Jessica A. and Marvin Hall.  2018. Fall Forage Establishment.  Pennsylvania State University.  https://extension.psu.edu/fall-forage-establishment

Williamson, Jessica A., Lingenfelter, D., and Duiker, S. W.  2019.  Grazing Cover Crops Prior to Planting Corn.  Pennsylvania State University.  https://extension.psu.edu/grazing-cover-crops-prior-to-planting-corn

Williamson, Jessica A. 2018. Grazing Residue Height Matters.  Pennsylvania State University.  https://extension.psu.edu/grazing-residue-height-matters

Williamson, Jessica A. 2019. Selecting the Correct Forage Species.  Pennsylvania State University.  https://extension.psu.edu/selecting-the-correct-forage-species

Felix, Tara L. and, Jessica A. Williamson.  2019. Ruminant Nutrition.  Series of 3 videos – A Symbiotic Relationship, Forage Quality, and Species and Forage Management.  Pennsylvania State University.  https://extension.psu.edu/ruminant-nutrition

Freitas, Tiago B., Jessica A. Williamson, and Tara L. Felix. 2018. Grazing Corn Stalks with Beef Cattle.  Pennsylvania State University.  As a PDF, 3 p. https://extension.psu.edu/grazing-corn-stalks-with-beef-cattle