Blacksburg, Virginia
March 11, 2005
A team
in Virginia Tech's College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences is leading the development of the
Pastureland Management System (PLMS), a free, practical, and
portable computer-based aid program that helps livestock farmers
compare different strategies for managing their land and
livestock.
The system's goal is to seasonally
balance forage produced on the farm and forage needed by
livestock.
John Galbraith, assistant professor
of crop and soil environmental sciences, said, "Unlike the
real-world experience, when trying the computer model, the
farmer is not forced to invest anything more than a few minutes
of time to test the potential improvements to be gained from
rotational grazing."
Using PLMS, a farmer can explore
using intensive grazing, manipulating stocking rates, and
modifying forage species to improve productivity and profit,
while also benefiting the environment.
PLMS provides nearly instant feedback
on how user-generated alternative grazing systems affect
critical variables like farm profit, milk production, and pounds
of beef to market. It also estimates the environmental
consequences of alternative plans from effects on soil erosion
to influences on greenhouse-gas emissions.
A multidisciplinary team, including
representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), ISIS Labs, LLC,
and Virginia Tech, is developing PLMS. Funding has been provided
by NRCS, as well as by the Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA) Ruminant Livestock Efficiency Program (RLEP, and a
Southern Region Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education
(SARE) Program Training and Education Grant.
By
Mary Ann Johnson,
Virginia Tech |