Come See What We've Been Doing

The activity at Eden Shale Farm this year has not slowed down for some time now. Dr. Steve Higgins has implemented numerous water quality BMP projects this year. He has installed everything from hardened winter feeding areas, to water harvesting projects that collect and store roof water to be used for livestock purposes. We will be showcasing some of these structures at the Eden Shale Farm Open House Field Day on October 10th.

We have also had activity surrounding the forages at the farm. Byron Seed has supplied us with a pasture mix (including fescue, orchard grass, and red clover) that we used to renovate one of our fields. The field got sprayed with GrazonNext this past spring to control the broadleaf weeds, and the seed renovation took place in late September. Also, Dr. Glen Aiken and Tracy Hamilton (with USDA FAPRU) have been working on seeding some more half acre forage plots, and fertilizing the existing stand of BarOptima Fescue. This forage work will be on display at the Open House Field Day as well.

This summer we have baled about 350 rolls of hay. Some of it was sorghum sudan grass and was wrapped for balage. The rest of it was dry hay and is stored in the hoop barn. This should be enough to get us through the winter, pending we don’t have back to back record breaking snow falls again this year.

I invite you to come join us on October 10th for the Eden Shale Farm Open House Field Day. We will be touring the farm to view the recent work that has been done to the forages and the livestock watering points. Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP so we know how many to expect. You can email or call me at [email protected] or 859-278-0899. Hope to see you there.