Press release:
It’s time to make plans to attend the Step It Up in 2013 Winter Grazing Conference on Feb 27. Keynote Speaker Cliff Hawbaker will make two presentations “Green is Grass, a Journey of Our Farms and Grazing Experience Focusing on Grass” and “Business Planning for Graziers, Focusing on Where You Are and Where You Want to Go."
The conference will be held a BW’s Restaurant, 11070 Perry Road, Pavilion, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Hawbaker and his wife, Maggie, own and operate Hamilton Heights Dairy Farm and Emerald Valley Farm in South Central Pennsylvania. The certified organic dairies consist of 689 acres with an additional 140 acres rented land. There are 300 dairy cows and 50 head of replacement heifers. For several years their focus has been on intensive grazing management and other dairy-related issues including once-a-day milking.
Cliff has served on numerous farm related boards and committees. Presently he is the chairman of Pennsylvania Grazing/Forage Lands Conservation Coalition and past chairman of DPAC (Dairy Policy Action Coalition). His activities have included past president of Franklin County Farm Bureau, Franklin County Farmland Preservation and Franklin County Soil Conservation and AgChoice Farm Credit Board. He is also active in his local church, Chambersburg Mennonite, and The Gideons International.
Other topics to be addressed at the conference are:
- Managing the Soil to Manage the Pasture
- Planning for Drought: Alternative Water Sources
- Economics of Grazed vs. Stored Feed, Economic Analysis for Decision Making
- Pasture Plant Selection
- Need Updates? Modernizing Grazing Dairies
Presenting these topics will be: Bill Verbeten, forages specialist; Nancy Glazier, small farms specialist; John Hanchar, farm business management specialist from the Cornell Cooperative Extension North West New York Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Team; and Beth Dahl, dairy modernization specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Harvest New York Program.
Registration includes handout materials and lunch. The cost of registration is $40 for the first person and $25 for each additional person from the same farm. A discount of $10 is available to Cornell Cooperative Extension enrollees for the first registrant who registers by Feb. 20.
To register please contact Cathy Wallace at 585-343-3040, ext. 138 or e-mail cfw6@cornell.edu <mailto:cfw6@cornell.edu>. A flier and registration form is available at www.nwnyteam.org Please register early space is limited.
