LIVESTOCK AND NATURAL RESOURCES

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1 LIVESTOCK AND NATURAL RESOURCES Program Highlights 32 workshops reaching over 2,800 ag producers 700 ag producers received the quarterly Foothill Rancher newsletter 42,000 hits on livestock related information on our UCCE website (ceplacer.ucdavis.edu) Nevada County Grown formed as the marketing organization for Nevada County Sierra Foothills Meat Buying Club organized in August 2008 and provides monthly local meat deliveries to three sites T he Placer/Nevada Livestock and Natural Resources program is the leading information, education, and demonstration source for livestock producers, consumers of local food, and a new generation committed to working in agriculture. Livestock production in Placer and Nevada Counties generates gross income of over $14 million annually to local ranchers. Many types of livestock are raised in the twocounty area including cattle, sheep, goats, horses, llamas, and alpacas. First delivery for Sierra Foothills Meat Buying Club in Penryn on August 28, Agricultural viability is a major issue in both Placer and Nevada Counties. Land development, increasing expenses, lack of economic and financial planning, and an aging agricultural population have contributed to a challenging agricultural situation. To meet this challenge, the Livestock and Natural Resources program in Placer and Nevada Counties takes local and statewide UC research to producers to help them be economically and environmentally sustainable. The implementation of sustainability translate to three core concepts: Structure your livestock operation to work with nature. This means matching your herd s production cycles with nature s cycles. Sell as much product locally. This will put a greater share of the food purchase dollar in the rancher s pocket. The people who eat food need to meet and understand the people who grow or raise their food. Building a true community is the final step towards sustainability Annual Report Page 1

2 Mobile Poultry Processor There is increasing interest among agricultural producers to raise meat birds and market them direct off the farm or at local farmer s markets. Processing is an issue as the nearest processor is located in Sacramento. Producers were interested in building a mobile poultry processor that could travel from farm-to-farm. This would be allowable due to a poultry exemption that allows a farm to process up to 20,000 birds a year providing they raise the birds, process with family labor, and sell off the farm or at farmers markets. A collaborative effort between local producers, UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE), High Sierra Resource Conservation and Development Council, and Sierra College began in A grant Here is the newly completed mobile poultry processor. Three farms have pilot tested the trailer and the equipment has worked great. received through Sierra College and sponsorships allowed for the purchase of a trailer, cones, scalder, plucker, and knives in UCCE provided funding to complete trailer construction in June Construction on the mobile poultry processor was completed in June Three different farms pilot tested the trailer and equipment in June Performance of the equipment exceeded expectations, especially the scalder. Steering committee is finalizing rental procedures, care and maintenance, scheduling, and developing a job description for a manager. Current efforts center on working through new regulatory issues that became effective in Spring In order for producers to be able to sell at the farmers market, the processing must be done through an approved source. Work has begun on establishing the ability for the trailer to be viewed as an approved source. Producers now have a local alternative available to them for poultry processing. More and more producers will be raising meat birds now that trailer construction has been completed. Page 2 University of California Cooperative Extension/Placer & Nevada Counties

3 California Browsing Academy Ranchers and farmers in Placer and Nevada Counties are currently interested in or using goats on their property for fuel load reduction and removal of noxious weeds. Few have any practical experience raising goats. The California Browsing Academy was designed, developed, and implemented to enable local producers to gain experience and knowledge in working with goats prior to using them on their farms and ranches. A total of 130 participants have learned to utilize goats on their operations since Participants were able to sample goat meat at one of the evening meals. The Academy has been held at Edwards Tree Farm in Colfax since Browsing Academy participants observe impacts of goats browsing Redbud. Training evaluations revealed knowledge increases in the following areas: body condition scoring to assess nutritional condition of the goats, browsing planning, goat behavior, browsing principles, and goat marketing. Participants found networking with other goat producers, where to find more information, and the class binder as very helpful. Participants sampled goat meat at one of the Browsing Academy dinners. Participants noted several times how much they got out of the hands-on experience with the goats in the field. One participant in the 2009 Browsing Academy worked for the city of Rocklin, which has almost 3,000 acres in open space. Rocklin is interested in using grazing/browsing for fuel load reduction and eradication of invasive plants. A workshop was held in January, 2009, to inform potential grazing contractors and the city of Rocklin about benefits of grazing / browsing and potential opportunities with the city. A list of grazing contractors was developed after the January meeting. The city now has grazing guidelines for potential contractors. Our office presented at the January workshop and assisted in the development of grazing guidelines Annual Report Page 3

4 California Sheep Academy There is increased interest in Placer and Nevada Counties sheep production. Many interested in sheep production seek opportunities to add value to production through niche marketing. They need practical experience in getting started with their operations. The California Sheep Academy was held September 12-14, 2008, at Thompson Ranch in Auburn. The Academy featured 25 hours of instruction taught over 2.5 days. Participants worked in teams that each received a flock of fifty yearling ewes to graze during the school. Teams were given electric netting or polywire to fence their ranch along with a portable water trough. They constructed paddocks based on an estimate of how much area their flock would need for twenty-fours of grazing. The following day, they evaluated how close they came with their estimate and adjusted paddock size accordingly. Participants received instruction on: pasture and range ecology, sheep grazing behavior, nutrition and supplementation, Blue Team receives their award for winning the troubleshooting electric fences activity. grazing planning, monitoring, and sheep health. Hands-on activities were held on body condition scoring to assess nutritional status, and using the Famacha eye technique to determine parasite infestation levels. A pre-post question survey was used to evaluate the different topics taught at the Academy. The following topics showed the greatest increase in understanding of the topic: Estimating the amount of area needed to graze with a flock. Sheep grazing behavior. Five principles of controlled grazing. Sheep nutrition, supplementation, and body condition scoring. Developing a monitoring program. This year there will be the inaugural Multi-species Grazing/Browsing Academy that will include both sheep and goats. The Academy will be held at Thompson Ranch in Auburn. Page 4 University of California Cooperative Extension/Placer & Nevada Counties

5 Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club Local meat producers primarily market through farmer s markets, restaurants, and retail stores. There is a need for additional marketing venues. Identifying venues that increase sales with minimal marketing is critical. Most producers have to produce, process, market, sell, and manage their business with minimal labor. Less time spent marketing and selling is a big help. Phil Mitchell is the first ever Meat Buyers Club customer to pick up his order on August 28, Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms was the keynote speaker at the 2006 PlacerGROWN Farm Conference. He had discussed the meat buyers club concept whereby product is pre-sold and delivered to a central distribution point for customer pick-up. PlacerGROWN agreed to serve as the fiscal agent. They deposit money and pay producers. Customers could order individual cuts in as large or small a quantity as desired. Each individual order has a delivery charge. After a couple of conference calls in July and August, 2008, the first delivery was scheduled August 28 th. There were three producers who would initially participate and provide beef, lamb, and pork. In 2009, goat, chicken, and eggs were added. Delivery points were in Auburn, Penryn, and Lincoln. A website, order form, brochure, and customer newsletter were created. Over $10,000 in sales was generated between August 2008 and June Participating producers included: Coffeepot Ranch pork; High Sierra Beef grassfed beef; Flying Mule Farm grassfed lamb and goat; Sinclair Family Farm grassfed lamb; CC Family Farm pasture raised eggs; and Chaffin Orchards pastured poultry. Marketing time was drastically reduced as the products are pre-sold with central delivery points. This may be a way to improve cash flow during the winter and early spring when fewer farmers markets are open. Increased sales at existing delivery points is needed. More delivery points will be added in Annual Report Page 5

6 Vines and Ovines The cultural practice of grazing sheep in vineyards to control floor vegetation has been used, but cannot be employed after new buds emerge in early spring. Research conducted at Utah State with the BEHAVE (Behavioral Education for Human, Animal, Vegetation, and Ecosystem management) program showed that taste aversions to vegetation types could be created using a low dosage of lithium chloride. The BEHAVE program principles and procedures could be used to create a taste aversion to grape leaves in sheep. This would allow spring vineyard grazing. A two-day training was given by participating UC Farm Advisors, including here in Placer County, to vineyard owners and livestock producers on behavioral principles used in creating a taste aversion. Participants were given hands-on training in successfully creating a taste aversion in two groups of sheep one group to grape leaves, the other to mulberry leaves. Sheep graze vineyard floor vegetation and avoid the grape leaves. One participant was from Lincoln. His sheep were averted to grape leaves in August Follow-up aversion training was conducted June The sheep were grazed at Mt Vernon Winery June Sheep were grazed successfully at Mt Vernon Winery for 36 hours in June Sheep grazed low quality vegetation with mostly brown stem and little green growth on the vineyard floor. Sometime between 36 and 44 hours, the aversion broke. The temptation of a green grape leaf compared to the old vineyard floor vegetation made the sheep willing to risk sampling the grape leaves. Mt Vernon Winery is interested in using the sheep in Timing of grazing is important for the floor management to be effective. Lambing is scheduled for December. This will allow sheep to graze the vineyard in March. Follow-up grazing will occur in May, where the vineyard floor vegetation will be higher in quality. Page 6 University of California Cooperative Extension/Placer & Nevada Counties

7 PlacerGROWN Farm Conference The annual PlacerGROWN Farm Conference is co-hosted by UC Cooperative Extension and PlacerGROWN. The conference had been held annually since The conference s purpose is to provide diverse educational opportunities, keynote speech on a relevant agricultural issue, and networking with other producers and support businesses. Keynote speaker Michael Dimock discussed local food systems and the role policy has in helping or hindering efforts. Michael had a follow-up question and answer workshop after the keynote speech. 29 workshops were held on the following themes: beginning farming, business planning, marketing, starting an agricultural intern program, niche meat marketing, and developing consumer connections. Trade show featured over 20 ag related businesses and organizations. The opening ceremonies and lunch were conducted and prepared by the Lincoln High School Future Steve and Lisa Pilz receive the Farmer of Farmers of America (FFA). the Year Award from PlacerGROWN President Rich Peterson. Over 175 people attended the Farm Conference. Each participant received a 200-page proceedings booklet, which contained workshop speakers information. 26 of the 33 speakers were from Placer and Nevada Counties. This reflects the many activities and programs going on to support local agriculture and direct marketing. Placer County Supervisor Rocky Rockholm, District 1, discussed the Placer Legacy program and other issues affecting local agriculture. PlacerGROWN President Rich Peterson presented the Farmer of the Year award to Steve Pilz of Hillcrest Orchards. 21 local businesses and Placer County helped support the conference. One evaluation comment sums up why the conference is held: Wonderful event! As a local consumer, this helps me know more to help and support local farmers and ranchers Annual Report Page 7

8 Nevada County Grown Over 80% of all farms in Nevada County are 50 acres or less in size. In order for most farms to survive economically, they must emphasize direct marketing to the consumer. For every dollar spent in the grocery store, farmers receive less than twenty cents. There is a need for an agricultural marketing organization to expand existing markets, create new ones, and promote buying local food to consumers. Nevada County Local Food Coalition, Nevada County Agricultural Commissioner, and UC Cooperative Extension worked with the Nevada County Board of Supervisors to secure $10,000 in start-up funding for Nevada County Grown. Nevada County Agricultural Farm Guide was published in The Nevada County Grown sign was on May 2009 and is now in display at their first Annual Meeting held countywide distribution. February Nevada County Grown website (nevadacountygrown.org) features the farm guide, information on local producers, and where to find local food. First annual Nevada County Grown meeting was held February Nevada County Grown has developed by-laws, interim board of directors, and applied for a non-profit 501(c)3 status with the state of California. A producer informational meeting on Nevada County Grown was held October 2008 to receive a progress update and to promote the November 2008 board of directors election and adoption of by-laws. The Nevada County Grown Annual Meeting attracted over 40 participants. UC Cooperative Extension facilitated the meeting. Each farm or ranch gave a brief overview of their place and discussed their marketing needs. By December 2008, the Board of Directors was in place and by-laws adopted. The Ag Guide s May publishing and distribution occurred just prior to peak production of agricultural crops. Volunteer labor supports development and publishing of the guide. Most of the 20,000 copies have been distributed. Page 8 University of California Cooperative Extension/Placer & Nevada Counties

9 Hennessey School Garden The Live Healthy Nevada County Food and Nutrition Action Committee is working on establishing school gardens, increased use of local food in school lunch programs, and the farm-to-school connection. Live Healthy Nevada County is a collaborative effort of many organizations, farmers, parents, and UC Cooperative Extension. Volunteers from Hennessy School, in partnership with Live Healthy Nevada County and UC Cooperative Extension, built more than 20 raised beds which were planted before school let out. Volunteers have been meeting every Wednesday throughout the summer to improve the garden. Farmers have been helping by sending interns for labor. Students learn where their food comes from by being part of the Hennessey School Garden Project. Nevada County Master Gardeners have helped with providing workday help and are developing ways to provide on-going support for the project. Hennessy Elementary School s Afterschool Summer Program started a pilot school garden in Summer The goal of the pilot program is to deliver four core elements: garden-based education, nutrition curriculum, farm-to-school connections, and fresh food in schools. The garden project will engage the students in a variety of garden activities including vegetable planting, research, a butterfly garden, a native plants garden near the pond, worm bins, lady bug release, and a preying mantis hatching. The UC Cooperative Extension s Farm to Fork curriculum will be one of the resources used for teaching in the garden. Gardens provide opportunity for students, teachers, farmers, and members of the community to interact. Less than 2% of the population is involved in agriculture. One of the many benefits of a school garden is students gaining understanding of where their food comes from Annual Report Page 9

10 Low Stress Livestock Handling Using low-stress handling techniques, ranchers are able to graze their livestock in ways that will improve riparian areas, water quality, and rangeland health. By accommodating the natural behavioral characteristics of livestock and always giving them a release from handler pressure, it is possible to gain increased control with less stress on the animals. Reduced stress lowers health costs and increases weight gains. This results in more profit for ranchers. Bud Williams, the world s leading livestock handling expert, developed low-stress livestock handling techniques as a teaching tool. Flying Mule Farm intern Courtney McDonald sorts a pen of cattle at the Low-Stress Livestock Handling School. The Van Vleck Ranch in Rancho Murietta was interested in hosting a low-stress livestock handling school. The ranch had a barn for classroom instruction and cattle for hands-on work. The school lasted two days and was taught by Tim Westfall from Idaho and UC Farm Advisor Roger Ingram. Participants were given instruction on: cattle behavior, basic principles of lowstress livestock handling, working one animal, sorting, working with a herd, stopping and turning cattle, working in corrals, corral design, and placing animals on range without fences. School was held at the Van Vleck Ranch in May 2009 with participants from Placer and Nevada Counties. In 24 hours, a herd of stocker cattle went from running away from handlers on foot to being placed on range without fences. Participants said the hands-on experience gave them a better understanding of the principles. Corral design principles learned at the school are being used locally. The U.S. Forest Service is interested in conducting a research project on using low-stress livestock handling techniques to achieve management objectives on grazing allotments on area national forests. Page 10 University of California Cooperative Extension/Placer & Nevada Counties