Grazing Clinic Held in Blount County

By Merry Buford, District Conservationist, NRCS, Blount County, Alabama

The Susan Moore Town Hall was at full capacity for the Grazing Clinic in August. There was such an interest in the event, people had to be turned away because the building wouldn’t hold anymore people.

Merry Buford, District Conservationist joked, "if I had known there would be this much interest I would have booked the civic center…next time!"

Forty-six producers signed up to attend the one-day grazing clinic that covered topics from the economics and physiology of forage production to fencing and grazing technologies and water quality. Speakers representing Auburn University, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, NRCS, and Gallagher Fence Company included Dr. Don Ball, Dr. Mary Goodman, Dr. Walt Prevatt, Dr. Darrell Rankins, Eddie Jolley, A.J. Evert, Charles Mitchell, and Tim Williams. 

Not only was this an extremely informative event, but it was free to the producers. The event registration was sponsored with funds from a 319 grant from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. Lunch was provided by the Blount County Farmers Federation, the Blount County Farmers Federation Women’s Committee, and was cooked by the Blount County Cattlemen’s Association.

Other sponsors included the Town of Susan Moore for donating the use of the Town Hall facility, The Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Auburn University for the speakers, and the Blount County Soil and Water Conservation District and NRCS for planning and working the event.

This year’s grazing clinic was such a great success that producers have already asked when the next one will be. Hopefully this will become a program that is held quite often in the local area.

October 2009

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