From the linked announcement:

Understanding the farm bill reauthorization process is never easy, but this time around it will be more challenging than ever. American Farmland Trust, Wholesome Wave, Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group and New England Farmers Union are hosting two webinars to help Northeast farm, food and conservation advocates better understand the 2012 Farm Bill reauthorization process. You’ll learn what’s at stake for USDA programs that protect farmland, address environmental challenges, improve food access, and revitalize local and regional food systems in the Northeast.

Save the dates and register for these two farm bill webinars:

Conservation: Friday, December 16, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Local and Regional Food Systems: Monday, December 19, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The first webinar will focus specifically on the Conservation Title of the farm bill. The second webinar will focus on USDA programs that support local and regional food system development, improve local food access, and help farmers expand production and markets. Webinar speakers will include Congressional staff, staff of national and regional farm, food and conservation organizations, and state government officials.

Both webinars will address these key questions:

• What is the likely timetable for farm bill consideration?
• What are the issues driving this farm bill, and what directional changes in programs and funding in these issue areas might result?
• What are some of the farm bill priorities that have been identified by members of Congress from the Northeast and state agencies and organizations in the region?

We hope you can join us!

• Meeting overview
• Detailed agenda
• Call for posters
• NEPC 2012 registration form

Hotel:

To make room reservations use the following contact information: Century House Hotel, PO Box 1100, Route 9, Latham, NY 12110; phone number: (518) 785-0931 or (888)-67HOUSE; or online. The room rate is $109.99 per night, plus taxes. Each attendee needing a hotel room please make these room reservations no later than January 3, 2011 to hold this rate. Say you are staying there to attend the Northeast Pasture Consortium Annual Meeting. Space is limited at the hotel so the earlier you commit the better the accommodations will be. Later reservations will be hosted at a different hotel (same chain) across a common parking lot.

We will start at 8:00 AM on January 25 so if you have far to travel, make hotel reservations for January 24th.

The hotel offers a complimentary breakfast buffet for those staying there, and the conference registration includes lunch and dinner for the appropriate days.

Driving Directions:

Google Maps

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From the East:
Take the NYS Thruway, I-90, Westbound to Exit B-1 (Berkshire Spur). Follow to I-787 North to Route 7 West (Schenectady and Saratoga Springs). Take the exit for Route 9. Turn left on Route 9 (North). Go 1/2 mile north on Route 9 and the Hotel/Restaurant/Conference Center with three entrances/exits will be on the right.

From the West:
Take the NYS Thruway, I-90, Eastbound to Exit 24. Take the Adirondack Northway, I-87, North to Exit 7 (Route 7), merge from right lane onto Eastbound Route 7 towards Troy. Stay in right lane for immediate exit onto Route 9 as right lane merges onto Route 9 North. Go 1/2 mile north on Route 9 and Hotel/Restaurant/Conference Center with three entrances/exits will be on the right.

From the South:
Take the NYS Thruway, I-87, Northbound to Exit 7 (Route 7), merge from right lane onto East-bound Route 7 towards Troy. Stay in right lane for immediate exit onto Route 9 as right lane merges onto Route 9 North. Go 1/2 mile north on Route 9 and Hotel/Restaurant/Conference Center with three entrances/exits will be on the right.

From the North:
Take the Adirondack Northway, I-87, South-bound to Exit 7 towards Troy/Cohoes. Stay in right lane for immediate exit onto Route 9 as right lane merges onto Route 9 North. Go 1/2 mile north on route 9 and Hotel/Restaurant/Conference Center with three entrances/exits will be on the right-hand side of Route 9.

From Albany International Airport, Albany-Rensselaer Train Station, and Albany Grey-hound Bus Station

The Century House offers free transportation to and from the Albany International Airport, the Albany-Rensselaer Train Station, and the Albany Greyhound Bus Station.

The Century House will also host the Winter Green-Up Grass-Fed Beef Conference immediately following our annual meeting. If you wish to stay over for it, be sure to book your room to include it as well.

This year Jim Cropper is coordinating the poster paper sessions. These will be held on the afternoon of January 25th and morning of January 26th. This allows researchers and others a chance to show us what they are doing in support of pasture-based farms in Northeast and elsewhere. These are often wide-ranging efforts from papers that support the session topics of the current annual meeting to papers following up on previous meetings’ session topics to papers addressing new issues of importance to pasture-based farmers and the society they support with food, fiber, and scenic green open spaces.

Be sure to let Jim know you plan to present a paper so that we have adequate space or boards to display them. Deadline for submission of poster paper title and authors is January 6, 2012. Submit the title by email to Jim Cropper. Email address is: jbcropper@yahoo.com

For the Northeast Pasture Consortium members doing a poster paper for the annual meeting only, use the guidance below. For those members reprising a poster paper they have used at other conferences or meetings, there is no need to conform to every specification below. However, keep in mind the target audience is primarily to inform our livestock and pasture farmer members. In the results and summary sections be sure to emphasis how the research findings in the poster paper are or could be relevant to their operations. In previous years, we have had posters sessions on Economics, Carbon Sequestration and the Environment, Pasture plants and Management and Product Quality.

Introduction

A major purpose of the annual meeting is a 2-way exchange of information. Remember that your paper must be carefully planned, clear and concise, oriented to transfer information effectively, hold the attention of the audience, and have a take-home message.

Planning

Include: an introduction, methods, results and discussion, summary, and references. Use metric and English units (in parenthesis) for weights and measures, or English units only. Use Power Point (or other computer graphic software) or make a small-scale layout of your poster on ordinary letter paper (8 1/2 by 11 inches). Emphasize the points you want to stress in your poster. Think of headlines, text, charts, graphs, illustrations, and photos, and incorporate these ideas into your layout. Once you are satisfied with the initial layout, finalize poster. The usable dimensions of most poster boards normally measure 44 3/4 inches high by 90 7/8 inches across, less a 2 by 4 inch space in the upper left hand corner. Your assigned poster number will be positioned in this space on a card provided by the Executive Committee. Poster size: Full poster board – approx. 42 X 84 inches, or half poster board – approx. 42 X 42 inches. Send abstract and poster size dimensions to Jim Cropper, by January 13th, 2009.

Organization

Your poster starts in the upper left hand corner, where your paper number is posted on a 2 x 4 inch (7.6 by 15.2 cm) card provided by the Executive Committee. From here the poster should flow from left to right and top to bottom. The title – author(s) – sponsoring institution heading for your poster must be at the top of the poster paper. Use letters, numbers, or arrows to indicate the proper flow to the audience.

Simplicity

Don’t crowd too much information into the presentation; concentrate on two or three main points. Highlight trends and comparisons with simplified charts, graphs, and diagrams. Make key points in the legend of the figure or table. Use text sparingly, and make sure it is easily understood by the audience. Outline important points with bulleted text. Use abbreviations and acronyms sparingly. Avoid overwhelming your audience with too many numbers, words, and/or complicated graphs or tables. Remember,a lot of people will read or study your poster while you are away or talking to another person about the content of the poster; keep the message clear and simple. Choose one background color for your poster paper. Use contrasting colors where appropriate in charts, graphs, and diagrams.

Headings

For the title, use a finished font that is at least 1 inch high when the poster is printed out to full size. The lettering for authors’ names, sponsoring institution, and address should be at least 3/4 inch high. For section heads and subheads, use a type font at least 25% larger than the text font (1/4 inch tall when poster is printed at full size). All type must be easily read from a distance of six feet. Use a bold typeface for headings and labels.

Text Type

Keep your text in short, concise, legible statements; minimize complete sentences and paragraphs. A few summary statements are encouraged. Use a word processor to prepare your text copy. Set your word processor for 1.5 lines of space between each line of type. Text in upper and lower case letters is more readable than all capitals. Lettering for subheads and figure captions should be larger than text type, but smaller than type used for a main heading. This type should also be bold. Text type should be at least 1/4-inch tall and readable from a distance of 6 feet. Choose a plain font type such as Arial.

Mounting

The best procedure is to use large glossy paper that is on a spool of a plotter used to capture the image from Power Point or similar software. Bring along the necessary items to put up your poster. We may not have poster boards at the Century House, but I have asked to use walls if boards are unavailable. Bring a supply of business cards to hand out at your poster session.

This is a quick way of distributing your name and address to interested attendees. Have a sign-up pad available to record the names and addresses of individuals wanting more information. You may also want to have a supply of handouts available for interested people.

Wednesday, January 25

8:00 AM Welcome and Introduction of Participants
Jim Cropper, Executive Director
Main Ballroom

8:30 AM Session 1 – Nutrient Management on Pastures
Moderator: Ed Rayburn
Main Ballroom

Quirine Ketterings – Associate Professor-Nutrient Management Spear Program, Department of Animal Science, Cornell U., Ithaca, NY
Farm nutrient balances: why should we care?

Paul Cerosaletti – Nutrient Management and Precision Dairy Feed Management team leader- Cornell Coop. Extension, Delaware Co., Walton, NY
Precision feed management on pasture-based dairies.

Ed Rayburn – Extension Specialist-Agronomy, WVU, Morgantown, WV
Precision nutrient management in pastures.

10:00 AM Break – East Room

10:15 AM Session 2 – Pastureland Conservation Effects Assessment Program (CEAP) Findings
Moderator: Howard Skinner
Main Ballroom

Matt Sanderson – Research Leader, USDA – ARS, Mandan, ND
Pastureland CEAP—Progress and Plans

Sarah Goslee – Ecologist, USDA – ARS, University Park, PA
Linking farms and landscapes: Grazinglands CEAP research in the eastern United States.

11:15 AM
Producer Session
Moderator: Clyde Bailey
Recorder: Joe Hatton
East Room

Public Session
Moderator: Rob DeClue
Recorder: Tom Akin
Main Ballroom

Topics:
- NRCS cost-share of perimeter fences for conversion of land to pasture
- Review Consortium objectives and revise
- Consortium funding issues

12:15 PM Lunch – White Ballroom

1:15 PM Session 3 – Grass Species and Varieties Grazing Trials Results
Moderator: Rachel Gilker
Main Ballroom

Matt Sanderson – Research Leader, USDA – ARS, Mandan, ND
Mixing and Matching for Plant Diversity in Pastures

Stephen Herbert – Associate Dean & Director of Ag. Center, UMass, Amherst, MA
Presentation Title to be announced

Sid Bosworth – Agronomy Specialist, UVM, Burlington, VT
Making Sense Out of Pasture Mixtures

2:45 PM Poster Break (authors present) – East Room

3:30 PM Session 4 – Organic Farming Methods of Seeding & Managing Pastures
Moderator: Angus Johnson
Main Ballroom

Heather Darby, Associate Professor of Agronomy, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Managing Fertility and Pests in Organic Pastures

Sarah Flack, Pasture Consultant, Sarah Flack Consulting, Enosburg Falls, VT
An overview of the requirements of the National Organic Program pasture rule

J. Keith Waldron, Livestock and Field Crops Coordinator, IPM Program Office, NYSAES, Geneva, NY
Presentation Title to be announced – Subject organic fly control on pastures

5:00 PM Adjourn

5:45 PM Dinner – White Ballroom

7:00 PM Producer Showcase
Moderator: Angus Johnson
Main Ballroom

Bob Richardson – Owner and Operator, Rocky Acres Farm, Warren, MA
Presentation Title to be announced

Morgan Hartman – Owner and Operator, Black Queen Angus Farm & Sustainable Genetics, LLC, Berlin, NY
Presentation Title to be announced

9:00 PM Adjourn

Thursday, January 26

8:00 AM Public and Private Sectors Breakout sessions

Public Sector
Chair: Jill Ott
Recorder: Tom Akin
Main Ballroom

Private Sector
Chair: Rachel Gilker
Recorder: Joe Hatton
East Room

9:15 AM Poster Break (authors present) – East Room

10:00 AM Session 5 – Silvopasture Opportunities in the Northeast
Moderator: Rachel Gilker
Main Ballroom

Brett Chedzoy – Senior Resource Educator – Ag & Natural Resources, Cornell Coop. Extension – South Central NY Ag Team, Montour Falls, NY
Silvopasturing: Sustainable Woodland Grazing that Benefits Land, Livestock and People

James Neel – Research Animal Scientist, USDA-ARS, Beaver, WV
Presentation Title to be announced

Matt Burke – Bloomfield Farm, Charlotte, VT
Presentation Title to be announced

12:00 PM Lunch – White Ballroom

1:30 PM Sector and USDA Agency Reports
Jim Cropper, Executive Director presiding
Main Ballroom

Private Sector report – Bob Richardson, Co-Chair Elect
Public Sector report – Rob DeClue, Co-Chair Elect
NIFA report – Jim Dobrowolski, Washington, DC
ARS report – Jeff Steiner, Beltsville, MD
NRCS Report – Kevin Ogles, Greensboro, NC

3:00 PM Break – East Room

3:30 PM Business Meeting
Jill Ott, Public Sector Co-Chair and Rachel Gilker, Private Sector Co-Chair, Presiding
Main Ballroom

Margaret Smith, Administrative Advisor to NERA1003, NERA1003 Project for 2011-2016

Election of Private Sector and Public Sector members-at-large to serve on the Executive Committee of the NE Pasture Consortium

Other business to come to the Floor, such as resolutions and changes to Consortium research and extension priorities.

Jim Cropper, Executive Director, Thank you to the outgoing Executive Committee members, Welcome to the new Executive Committee members, and Announcement of the 2012 Public and Private Sector Co-Chairs

5:00 PM Adjourn

6:00 PM Dinner – White Ballroom

The NRCS-ARS Pastureland Conservation Effects Assessment Program (CEAP) just recently finished evaluating the primary NRCS conservation practices used on pastures throughout the US. Matt Sanderson will be returning to the Northeast as our guest speaker to present the work his group did on that evaluation.

Silvopasture is an old-new concept providing pasture for livestock while growing merchantable trees. We will be presenting work done at Appalachian Farming Systems Center of ARS at Beaver, WV as well as work being done in NY and Vermont where hardwood forests are thinned to allow forage growth as well as timber.

The Producer Showcase is a new session that we would like to make a yearly one. Here we will showcase Consortium farmer members’ farms so they can share with us how pastures work for them along with the rest of their operations.

The results from three grass species and varieties grazing trials from around the Northeast will be presented at the Grazing Trials Results session. Hearing what researchers have to say is a good way to find out what grows best before testing it yourself in your situation.

The Organic Farming Methods of Seeding and Managing Pastures session will address the issues of seeding and managing pastures without resorting to chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Rangeland CEAP report available, Pastureland CEAP progress

The Rangeland CEAP Report is available on line here. The exhaustive assessment of seven practice standards that are used in management of rangelands was managed and edited by David Briske at Texas A & M. The publication involved 40 rangeland scientists and focuses on a detailed literature synthesis that will be useful for accountability and to build a solid scientific foundation to improve natural resource assessment, conservation planning and implementation of practices. The parallel Pastureland CEAP assessment, that began later and is being managed and edited by Jerry Nelson at the University of Missouri, is in the final stages of preparation and should be available on line early in 2012. Hard copies of both assessments will also be available.

Researchers from the University of New Hampshire are leading a multi-state project that aims to help organic dairy farmers better produce and market their milk. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to 12 researchers from the universities of Maine, Vermont, Cornell, and the USDA, well as UNH, the research will explore how organic dairy farmers in the Northeast can enhance farm profitability by extending the grazing season and adding value to milk through flaxseed supplementation.

Gaining Ground Trailer: Successful Graziers Tell Their Stories from The Downstream Project on Vimeo.

That’s just the trailer. The full 15-minute video can be watched here, and is also available on DVD. There’s more information on the project at that link as well.

Functional Foods Innovations, Authors: Moushumi Paul, Michael Tunick, Diane Van Hekken and Peggy Tomasula; Dairy and Functional Foods Research Unit, USDA, Agricultural Research Services, Eastern Regional Research Center, Wyndmoor, PA 19038

Sediment carbon concentration and transport from small pastured watersheds, Authors: Lloyd B. Owens and Martin J. Shipitalo, USDA-ARS, North Appalachian Experimental Watershed, PO Box 488, Coshocton, OH 43812

Herbage Mass Accumulation in an Intensive Rotational Grazing System at UNH’s Organic Dairy Research Facility, Authors: Ashley Green and John Aber, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824

Buffer Placement & Efficiency improves when topographic flow paths are used, Authors: D. A. Piechnik. Penn State University – PSIEE, University Park PA, S.C. Goslee and T.L. Veith. USDA-ARS, PSWMRU – University Park PA 16802

Seasonal changes in plant diversity and abundance in Northeastern pastures, Author: Sarah Goslee, USDA-ARS Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit, University Park, PA 16802

Gas emissions from confinement and pasture-based dairy farms, Author: C. Alan Rotz , USDA/ARS Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit, University Park 16802

Economic and phosphorus-related effects of precision feeding and forage management at a farm scale, Authors: Tamie Veith, USDA-ARS Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit, University Park, PA 16802; Lula T. Ghebremichael, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405

Effect of Time of Cutting and Maceration of Forage on Ruminal Fermentation in Continuous Culture, Author: Kathy Soder, USDA-ARS Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit, University Park, PA 16802

Ramada Conference Center and Inn
State College, Pennsylvania
February 1-2, 2011

Part I of the meeting report
Part II of the meeting report

After lunch, Session 3 began at 1:30 PM. This session was on the Effect of Changing Climate on Northeast Pastures. Dr. Howard Skinner, plant physiologist with the USDA-ARS Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit at University Park, PA and Executive Committee member, was moderator and first speaker.

Dr. Howard Skinner, What will the Climate be like for our Children and Grandchildren?

Seven different scenarios showed what would happen with the release of varying levels of CO2 emissions over this century. These scenarios predict substantial changes in the climate of the northeastern United States

more about Howard’s presentation

Dr. Jack Morgan, plant physiologist, USDA-ARS Crops Research Laboratory, Fort Collins, CO gave the next presentation, Implications of Rising Atmospheric CO2 and Climate Change for Grazinglands.

Atmospheric CO2 levels remained essentially constant from 0 AD to about 1900 at around 280 ppm. It then shot up to 380 ppm over the last century. In the same time span, methane gas has climbed from 800 parts per billion (ppb) to over 1900 ppb. While, nitrous oxide has increased from 270 ppb to 340 ppb after being fairly constant over the first 1900 years.

more about Jack’s presentation

The third speaker of Session 3 was Dr. Lewis Ziska, research plant physiologist, USDA-ARS, Crop Systems and Global Change Lab, Beltsville, MD. His presentation was Invasive Plants, Climate and CO2: Implications for Agriculture.

So what happens if CO2 goes up? An indirect effect of rising carbon dioxide is warmer temperatures. For example: No H2O and CO2? Surface temperature of Earth would be -18o C on average. With H2O and CO2? Surface temperature averages 15o C. A direct effect of rising CO2: Stimulation of plant growth. Any change in light, water, nutrients, or carbon dioxide will alter plant growth.

more about Lewis’s presentation

Dr. Larry Chase, Professor of Animal Science-Nutrition from Cornell University, was the last speaker of session 3. The title of his presentation was What Will Climate Change Mean to Grazing Animals?

All animals have a zone of thermoneutral temperatures conducive to normal function. The upper critical temperature is where the effects of heat stress start to appear. Heat stress is when the heat load of cow is greater than the cow’s ability to dissipate heat. More generally, it is the inability to maintain /stabilize body temperature within very narrow limits. Without proper maintenance of body temperature, there is a drop in biochemical reactions and physiological processes, and metabolism is abnormal. The thermoneutral zone or comfort zone is the combination of temperature and humidity where dairy cattle are comfortable and not under heat or cold stress.

More about Larry’s presentation