Forage Management

Lesson Structure

1. Scope and Nature of Forage Resources
   • Introduction
   • Terminology
   • Types of Forage
   • Types of Forage Lands
   • What different Animals Eat - Avian, Monogastric, Ruminants, Pseudo Ruminant
   • Managing Forage Ecosystems
   • Over grazing
   • Continuous vs Rotational Grazing
   • Ecosystem Health
   • Weed Types
   • Weed Populations
2. Grassland Species and Ecosystems
   • Different Ways to Feed Animals
   • Different Fodder Systems
   • Different Fodder Plants - grasses, legumes, roots, wildflowers, forbs
3. Fodder Trees & Shrubs
   • Definitions
   • Advantages & Disadvantages of Fodder Trees
   • Using Fodder Trees
   • Harvesting Foliage - pollarding, coppicing, browse blocks, leaf fall, silvopasture systems
   • Criteria for plant selection
   • Financial considerations
   • Considering Tree Species - Acacias, Bamboos, Beech, Black locust, Carob, Honey Locust, Pome Fruits and many more
4. Forage Establishment
   • Natural area Grazing
   • Seeding
   • Soil - soil biome, rhizosphere, autotoxicity
   • Weed Management
   • Biodiversity -riparian zone, birds
5. Forage Management
   • Regenerative Grazing Management
   • Improving Soil Quality
   • Strategies for Soil Improvement - crop rotation, tillage, zero tillage, fertility testing, soil compaction, soil cover
   • Fertiliser Management
   • NPK
   • Using Legumes
   • Irrigation Management
   • Animal Management
   • Animal Access Management - hedges, wire, barbed wire, electric fence, stone walls, banks/rises, gates, digital fencing tech
   • Controlled Burning
   • Pest and Disease Management
6. Forage Quality and Use
   • Understanding Quality -palatability. intake, digestibility. nutrients, anti quality forage, animal performance
   • Composition and Analysis- moisture content, crude protein, fibre, energy, minerals, relative feed value etc
   • Cutting
7. Forage (animal) related disorders
   • Recognising ill health
   • Seasonal and Conditional Disorders -bloat, acidosis, nitrate poisoning, prussic acid, grass tetany, phytoestrogens, etc
   • Overgrazing
   • Parasites
   • Worms
   • Species Related Disorders - fescue taxicosis, endophyte toxins, ryegrass staggers, antiquality components, phenolic compounds
   • Seasonal and Conditional Disorders -plant poisoning
   • Disorders Associated with Stored Forages
8. Preserving Forage as Hay & Silage
   • Making Hay - curing, weather factors, etc
   • Mowing
   • Conditioning
   • Swathe Manipulation to Speed Drying
   • Hay Storage and Preservation
   • Phases in Silage Fermentation
   • Silage Storage
   • Silage Management

Aims

• Discuss the nature and scope of forage plants eaten by animals, both in captivity and in the wild.
• Identify the comparative characteristics of grasses and other low growing fodder plants from different natural and created habitats, including grasses, legumes and forbs.
• Identify the comparative characteristics of grasses and other low growing fodder plants from different natural and created habitats including a range of trees and shrubs.
• Explain how forage plants may be established effectively in a managed pasture.
• Explain how to manage a landscape to optimise forage production in a way that is sustainable, both economically and environmentally.
• Explore factors that impact the quantity and quality of forage produced by a landscape and the effect on productivity of forage production.
• Identify common problems that can arise in livestock and other animals as a result or the forage/fodder they eat.
• Harvest and store forage plants for feeding animals after a period of storage.

• Fees & Enrolment