Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Objective 1. This objective is still in the development stage and has yet to be completely implemented. Objective 2. This objective was completed at the 2006 meeting in Salmon, Idaho and has yet to have a major impact on programs. The accomplishments are: Utah o Jennifer MacAdam has established a field study in the Intermountain West to determine the value of numerous cool-season grasses, warm-season grasses, legumes and forbs in extraction of moisture and utilization of nitrogen from a deep soil profile to reduce the likelihood of nitrate leaching to groundwater in irrigated pastures. Colorado o Currently working on revising the Intermountain Grass and Legume Forage Production Manual@ for western Colorado. Revision should be out in the spring of 2007. o Obtained grant to start work on an integrated crop/livestock production system using kura clover as a living mulch in annual no-till cropping systems. o Working with the city of Parker on converting irrigated crop land to dryland species that will include grasses for grazing. North Dakota o The CGREC received a grant from SARE and the North Dakota Natural Resources Trust to establish an extension rangeland specialist to work one-on-one with producers on establishing rangeland monitoring sites on their ranches. o The NDSU Ag. Experiment Station received a $95,500 to establish grass and grass-legume plots at 6 locations throughout central and western North Dakota. These plots will be used to study the use of these grasses and grass legume mixtures for biomass for ethanol production. Objective 3. This objective has had the most impact on state programs as is indicated on the following accomplishments: Utah o Jennifer MacAdam and Tom Griggs organized a symposium for Division C-6, Forage and Grazinglands, at the Crop Science Society of America meeting in November 2005 entitled Beyond the Plant: Biodiversity Impacts on the Grazing Animal, that explored the emerging issue of the impact of plant diversity on ruminants. o Jennifer MacAdam presented a poster at the XX International Grassland Congress in Dublin, Ireland and attended a satellite meeting in Cork, Ireland on the Utilization of Grazed Grass in Temperate Animal Systems. o Jennifer MacAdam and a graduate student attended a workshop at The Land Institute in May of 2005, where there is interest in breeding perennial grains by crossing annuals and perennials, and fertilization with biologically fixed nitrogen. Parallels with forage systems were discussed with the staff and workshop attendees. Idaho o The Lost River Grazing Academy was presented twice at the Nancy M. Cummings Research Extension and Education Center near Salmon. This 4-day, hands-on short course provides operators and interested agency personnel an introduction to the principles of management-intensive grazing of irrigated pastures. o Ada, Owahee and Canyon County extension educators, with the help of local NRCS personnel presented a 12-hour pasture short course and tour. The program was designed to introduce new rural landowners to land use planning, inventory of resources, soil sustainability, water sustainability, plant sustainability and management and animal sustainability and management. o Extension educators from Nez Perez, Latah, Clearwater and Idaho counties organized and conducted a workshop and tour addressing pasture management issues. o A survey of 100 past participants in the lost River Grazing Academy was conducted to examine changes in their attitudes and grazing practices. The survey obtaining approximately a 50% response rate and the data is presently in the process of analysis. North Dakota o The Central Grasslands Research Extension Center (CGREC) published an annual report that was distributed to 35,000 residents of the State of North Dakota through an insert in several of the daily newspapers and a 1000+ mailing list. o The CGREC conducted a day long workshop on identifying indicators of rangeland health. The workshop used a wide variety of learning mediums including time in the field identifying indicator on the ground.