Published 11:15 am Friday, June 25, 2021
HAUSER, Idaho — Dryland ranchers got a “crash course” in managing grazing lands to increase productivity during a recent University of Idaho Extension workshop.
Drought years tend to generate a lot of interest, said Kate Painter, UI Extension educator, based in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
“Right now, people are selling their cattle early, feed prices are going up — they just know it’s going to be a really tough year,” she said.
The regenerative ranching course is part of the movement to rejuvenate soil health and pasture organic matter, Painter said.
The program focuses on management-intensive grazing, moving the livestock each day to keep the land at its optimum growth stage.
“If you allow grass to be grazed past about 50% of its natural height, the roots start to become smaller and smaller,” Painter said. “But if you take half, leave half, then the roots are never damaged. The grass will grow much better and it will be much more resilient to whatever the weather might be throwing at us.”
For years in September, a popular four-day grazing academy has been offered for irrigated pastures in Eastern Idaho.
Painter wanted to offer the program in Northern Idaho, where much of the land is rain-fed, not suitable for crops but perfect for pasture.
“If you don’t manage it well, especially with the droughty weather we keep experiencing more and more, it’s not going to keep working for us,” she said.
They developed a two-day program, in a classroom in the morning and out in the field the rest of the day.
“It was kind of a crash course compared to the four-day one,” Painter said.
About 22 ranchers participated, she said. It took place on the Lazy JM Ranch in Hauser, Idaho, where the ranchers could compare the “lush” pastures, a “dramatic” difference compared to the surrounding countryside, Painter said.
“You could see it was going to be probably triple the productivity,” Painter said.
Painter said the techniques will prove useful for younger ranchers looking to get started in the industry.
“It will help them be able to expand their cattle herd, make more money, whatever their goals are, and hopefully be able to invest in land,” she said. “Be more profitable and also really more resilient operation.”
The four-day Lost Rivers Grazing Academy, will be held Aug. 17-20 near Salmon, Idaho, Aug. 17-20.
For more information, contact Kate Painter, kpainter@uidaho.edu, or Scott Jensen, sjensen@uidaho.edu.
