Raising livestock at any age requires an array of skills and knowledge in areas ranging from animal health, nutrition and proper handling to resource and business management. It is certainly not a job that can be taken lightly, which is why it is so important to lay a foundation of education for those who are interested in livestock production at an early age. In fact, the future of agriculture and even the way in which society views food production, is highly dependent upon properly educating our youth.

Programs such as 4-H and FFA are excellent training platforms for youth who raise livestock on a small scale. In the last two weeks nearly 800 youth across three different counties exhibited livestock at either the Yuba-Sutter Fair or the Nevada County Fair. Exhibitors ranging from 9-19 years old, have been working tirelessly over the last year to prepare project animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, poultry and swine for competition and market. The process involves more than feeding and grooming animals on a daily basis, which in itself is not always an easy task.

“Youth gain a tremendous amount of life skills from raising livestock,” explains Rita Boyes, 4-H Program Representative for the Sutter Yuba 4-H Youth Development Program. “Among these skills, team work, and decision making rise to the top.”

Jake Williams (15) of the Smartsville 4-H Club, recently exhibited and sold his seventh steer at the Yuba-Sutter Fair. As a way to market his steer, Williams, like many other exhibitors, hand-delivers letters to businesses and community members who will potentially support the Junior Livestock Auction. Such tasks develop public speaking and communication skills, and remind young people to keep the primary goal in sight. “The most important part of raising a steer is creating a quality product for the buyer,” says Williams. “It's a lot of fun and I've learned a lot, but it is definitely hard work.”

Upcoming educational opportunity:

To help meet the needs of students looking to take their knowledge one step further, SFREC is developing an ongoing educational program focused on livestock and natural resources. The 1^st Annual Beef and Range Field Day will be held on October 8^th, 2014 for high school students in 4-H and FFA. The program will help students make clear connections between beef cattle, range management and water quality and availability; issues commonly dealt with on a working ranch. Stay tuned for more information as we roll out this program!

Youth and adults looking for additional resources, can visit the 4-H Youth Development Program for free curriculum and project sheets pertaining to animal and environmental sciences. Guides for livestock care can be found for several animal species through the UC Davis, Veterinary Medicine Extension program.

The Yuba River is an important waterway and landmark for many locals. It may offer the perfect fishing hole or a place to cool off on a warm summer day, while others might simply drive along it on their commute to work. For the Lower Yuba River Accord: River Management Team, however, the Yuba means so much more.

Nearly 60 individuals gathered at SFREC for the 6th Annual Lower Yuba River Accord Symposium on July 15th to dive into the history, management and future of the Lower Yuba River. Attendees listened to presentations and asked questions of those involved in the river's preservation.

Speaking on the goals of the River Management Team and the current Monitoring and Evaluation Program, Tom Johnson of the Yuba County Water Agency discussed efforts to develop optimum flow schedules, record temperature performance and ensure the smooth implementation of Yuba Accord operations.

Dr. Greg Pasternack of the University of California, Davis described over 400 years of geomorphic history and changes to the Yuba River. He also spoke of the Chinook salmon and Steelhead spawning habits, explaining that the Yuba has the capability to support many more spawners than it currently does each year. According to Pasternack, the River Management Team has worked on projects over the last seven years to increase the spawning habitat near Englebright Dam.

Looking at the year-round temperatures of the Yuba River, Casey Campos and Duane Massa with the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, talked of what these temperatures mean for the spawning and livelihood of fish inhabiting the river, particularly the habitats of the Chinook salmon. Campos explained that the Yuba River is among the coldest in the Central Valley.

Paul Bratovich of HDR Inc. walked through the interactions between the Yuba and Feather Rivers and how the flows and temperatures vary between the two. Bratovich described how these differences could be attracting fish from the Feather River to the Lower Yuba and the subsequent impact on the fish population.

Symposium coordinators, Gary Reedy of the South Yuba River Citizen League spoke on the need for habitat enhancement, giving a summary of previous actions, while Beth Campbell of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) discussed enhancement initiatives implemented by FWS.

The symposium concluded with lunch at the Yuba River Education Center, followed by a float down the beautiful Yuba River.

 

The current water crisis and threat of reduced water supplies has irrigators in a critical position to ensure each application of water is maximized. An ongoing project at the Sierra Foothill Research & Extension Center, led by Larry Forero, UCCE Director for Shasta County and Livestock and Natural Resources Specialist, examines pasture irrigation efficiency and timing to provide potential solutions for limited water resources.

For this project, researchers and staff regularly monitor and assess four factors associated with the production of foothill flood irrigated pasture utilizing pipe and ditch delivery methods. These factors include the amount of water applied to the pasture, the amount of water run-off, the effectiveness of irrigation, and the production of the pasture (measured in biomass and AUM harvest).

Soil moisture monitoring is a simple yet useful method utilized to determine irrigation efficiency. Ranging in price from less than ten dollars to several hundred dollars, soil moisture sensors allow irrigation managers to measure water levels beneath the surface and at different locations throughout the field.

Preliminary findings indicate that the interval between irrigations could be lengthened in the fall as the days shorten and become cooler. Fewer applications result in less water being used, saving ranchers time, money, and stress. The monitoring for this project will continue through the summer and fall, so check back for additional updates.

With July being “Smart Irrigation Month” this is the time for ranchers to explore opportunities for more efficient irrigation methods using resources like those offered in this post.

Follow this link for additional information about current projects focused on grazing and management of dryland and irrigated pasture at SFREC. Here is a previous blog post about sustainable irrigation practices at this center. This Basic Surface Irrigation Theory In Irrigated Pasture presentation by Allan Fulton, UC Irrigation And Water Resources Farm Advisor, offers basic pasture irrigation principles. The Rangeland Watershed Laboratory with UC Davis provides additional publications, drought information, and links to other resources.

Adaptation to changing weather and economic conditions is fundamental to farm and ranch survival but this year's drought is pushing variable adaptation strategies to their limit. The international community is closely watching how this dire situation is progressing in California and on June 19^th the Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC) visited the Sierra Foothill Research & Extension Center (SFREC) to document how ranchers are adapting to these extreme events and the implications these events have on agriculture and ultimately food production worldwide.   Filming involved capturing interviews of three ranchers to explore their perspectives as well as a tour of SFREC to examine potential adaptation strategies to drought.

Joe Fischer, cattle rancher and President of the Placer County Farm Bureau, told CBC the economic impacts and emotional toll of the drought on ranching families have forced ranchers to rethink their management strategies and find innovative ways to manage the land. “Ranchers tend to be profitable if the land is productive,” Fischer said. “We have to look ahead five to ten years or more and try to be as conservative as possible with our stocking rates. Under these conditions, we have a much smaller margin for error so we have to be more precise than ever with our management strategies.”

Fifth generation rancher, Cari Koopman-Rivers, discussed how her family was recently forced to sell 60% of their cattle due to diminishing water sources on their land. “In addition to grass production, drinking water for the cattle is a major concern,” said Koopman-Rivers. “We are continually working to develop more water systems for both drinking and distributing the cattle into areas they wouldn't normally be willing to graze.”

SFREC Director Jeremy James and Livestock and Natural resource Advisor Glenn Nader used SFERC as an opportunity to demonstrate how intensive grazing management, agricultural by-products and culling strategies could be deployed to mitigate some of the impacts of drought. Many producers with limited feed sources are utilizing agricultural by-products that are available in their area in order to sustain the nutritional requirements of their livestock. Nader, pointed out that almond hulls are high in energy and have limited protein, which allows cows to more efficiently digest hay and can limit the quantity of hay they need to consume. Nader warned that the almond hulls fed must contain a low level of almond shell, in order to avoid problems with rumen digestibility. Rice straw and rice bran are more local agricultural by-products that, under the right conditions, have been utilized as dietary supplements for cattle.

Dan Macon of Flying Mule Farms said that the challenges that arise from this drought and various other climatic events from the past remind ranchers that they need to look further out into the future and make sustainable plans for the long term. After culling 40% of his sheep flock, Macon has found success with contracting with landowners who are looking to reduce forage on their property. He is able to bring his sheep, along with electric fencing into areas that other livestock may not be able to access as easily. “This is not a new norm, it is a continuous norm,” said Macon, responding to how he is adapting to the drought. “No one year is ever the same on any ranch. Adaptation is what we do to sustain ourselves and the land and it is how we will continue to do so regardless of the climate conditions we face in the future.”

To view the proceedings from the January 29th SFREC Drought Workshop, click here.