Grazing Management System Working in Chambers County

By Ben Burton, SWCD Technical Assistant, Auburn Field Office, Alabama

The installed fences are constructed with high tensile woven wire and are effective when working small ruminants.

Chambers County landowner Lester Shepherd recently installed a grazing management system for his new goat operation.

Lester and his wife, Martha, retired to Chambers County and have worked hard to apply conservation practices to their property.

Lester heard about NRCS and the programs associated with the agency from his brother-in-law, who is an NRCS District Conservationist (DC) in another state. He instantly became interested in learning more about the natural resource conservation programs and methods.

When Lester and Martha met with Lee County NRCS DC Jason Gardner for the first time last year, he expressed his concern for resource conservation. He wanted to develop a whole farm conservation plan that would benefit his cause in the most positive way. The staff helped develop a conservation plan, and the best program to tailor his needs was the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

Lester was very excited about the process and eagerly began using financial assistance from the EQIP program to complete the scheduled practices under his contract.

He divided his pastures into workable paddocks by installing cross-fencing sections.  A new well and watering facilities allows each paddock to have access to water.

Now that the grazing management system is in place, Mr. Shepherd can raise proper hay crops and better manage the nutrient content of his pastures while taking care of the needs of his animals.

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