New England Forage and Weed ID and Management Training Project

About the Project

Note: This project was completed in 2016. The valuable resources produced are now being hosted by the Northeast Pasture Consortium

This two-year professional development project, funded by Northeast SARE, is designed to help agricultural service providers and personnel working in Extension, USDA NRCS, State agricultural agencies, and non-government organizations throughout New England better identify forage/pasture plants and forage weeds and study pasture and haycrop management strategies to optimize forage production and quality on livestock farms.

Trainings will be conducted through in-person sessions (which will include classroom and in-field components) and webinars (delivered live but also archived as online resources). Participants will be expected to conduct a self-study of assigned forage and/or weed species and develop management “help” factsheets; these will be compiled into a resource guide for use among trainees as well as farmers. Participants will also be expected to conduct a farmer educational activity (e.g., workshop, field day, video, etc.).

Participant Benefits and Expectations

Benefits

As a participant of this project, you will receive the following benefits:

• 30 hours of training provided by forage and weed specialists. All expenses (travel, lodging, meals, etc.) will be covered by the grant.
• Forage and weed species ID materials.
• Access to soil and hay probes and other field tools.
• Professional continued education units (CEUs) like CCAs, PATs, etc. as requested.
• Network of trained colleagues throughout New England.

Expectations

• Full participation.  Participants must be committed to attending training sessions and following through with the development and implementation of  their farmer education programs.
•  It is estimated that participant time commitment for the training and self-study will take about 40 hours per year. We expect that participants will participate in every training offered (see year 1 calendar below).
• Each participant will select both a weed and a forage species and develop a “help” or factsheet that will outline the biology and management options relevant to New England. The factsheets will be compiled and shared with fellow participants in year 2.
• In the second year, participants will be expected to develop a farmer educational program related to weed and/or forage management for no fewer than 5 producers. We expect that participants will document this programming, outlining successes and difficulties in forage and weed management on these farms.  Resources and training will be provided to help facilitate this process for both program devemopment and evalutaion.

Year 1 Training Calendar

• September 10-11, 2014: First In-Service Training, to be held in southeast NH (location to be announced)
• Webinar Series (offered each month from 1:00 to 2:00 pm ET)
  • November 13, 2014
  • December 11, 2014
  • January 6, 2015
  • February 3, 2015
  • March 10, 2015 

Year 2 Training Calendar

• In 2015, a second two day In-Service Training will be held in May or June.
• At least three to four additional one-hour webinars will be provided.  
• The dates for Year 2 trainings will be determined by the participants and instructors in Year 1.

For More Information

The project is a collaboration between the University of Vermont Extension and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. The project team includes:

• Sid Bosworth, Project Lead, University of Vermont
• Richard Brzozowski, University of Maine
• Rick Kersbergen, University of Maine
• Deb Heleba, University of Vermont