05/30/05 Grazing academy coming soon

You're never too old to learn something new. HAWKINS "I had an old boy tell me one time he'd learned all that he needed to know. And I thought that's pretty sad. The way I looked at it if we quite learning we're dead." That's the University of Idaho's Jim Hawkins talking about a hands-on workshop that helps livestock operators improve the productivity of their pastures. The Lost River Grazing Academy will be held June 13th through the 16th at the U of I's Cummings Research Center north of Salmon. HAWKINS "Most of the pastures across the state are mismanaged and what we're trying to show them is a way to get 30 to 50 percent more pasture and more grass off the same piece of ground." This four-day program involves classroom work but more importantly it's on the ground training too. HAWKINS "Well we divide the class into teams and each team has a herd of cattle that they manage for the week with various grazing assignments. First day we just have them feed them. The next day we ask them to graze it to a certain stubble height, then leave so much residue so that they get a feel for what we're trying to teach them in the classroom." Class size is limited, you must pre-register by June 7th and there are costs involved but full-ride scholarships, including lodging and mileage, are available to qualified Idaho producers. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott