Assessing Resources and Setting Goals  Lesson 1

 Introduction

This lesson will offer tools to assess your farm’s resources, determine a farm plan by setting, prioritizing and scheduling goals, and establish a monitoring system under a whole farm approach.

There are basically two ways of managing the grazing area on a farm: continuous and managed grazing.  Both strategies have advantages and disadvantages.  In a continuous grazing system, set-up cost and time required for planning, managing and monitoring are lower.  Nevertheless, if stocking rate is low, animals use the pasture resource inefficiently by spot grazing only 30 to 35% of the forage available.  If the stocking rate is too high, overgrazing will occur.  Both situations lead to weed problems and depletion of legumes and preferred grasses, resulting in high re-seeding and herbicide costs, and reduced meat and/or milk production per acre.

 In contrast, managed grazing promotes pasture productivity and biodiversity (with fewer weeds), and allows for making hay or stockpiling to lengthen the grazing season.  These advantages are a result of time spent in planning, managing and monitoring, and higher initial investment in setting up the system.

Something to think about:

COUNTY OFFICES | TOPICS OF INTEREST | RESOURCES | PUBLICATIONS | WHAT'S NEWS | UMCE | UMAINE

Putting knowledge to work with the people of Maine

A Member of the University of Maine System
Last Modified: 06/12/07
These pages are currently being maintained from the
Dairy & Livestock Office, University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
Send comments, suggestions or inquiries to garya@umext.maine.edu 

In complying with the letter and spirit of applicable laws and in pursuing its own goals of diversity, the University of Maine System shall not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or citizenship status, age, disability, or veterans' status in employment, education, and all other areas of the University. The University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request.

Questions and complaints about discrimination in any area of the University should be directed to the Director of Equal Opportunity, 101 North Stevens, (207) 581-1226.

Information in this web site is provided purely for educational purposes. No responsibility is assumed for any problems associated with the use of products or services mentioned in this web site. No endorsement of products or companies is intended, nor is criticism of unnamed products or companies implied.