DRAFT
NCAT/ATTRA Livestock Team Work Plan for 2010
Goals and Objectives
The following Goals and Objectives have been established by the Livestock Team for
2010:
1. Maintain, update, and write new publications.
2. Assess staffing needs.
3. Maintain and seek new opportunities to conduct outreach in livestock, marketing,
and pasture management.
4. Identify professional development opportunities.
5. Plan and conduct a Livestock Team Retreat to develop and plan the 2011 work plan.
6. Successfully develop, manage, and complete funded projects that complement the
NCAT mission and ATTRA mandate.
NCAT/ATTRA Livestock Team Staff Resources
Our current staff and estimated time available for ATTRA work include:
Full time employees:
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Margo Hale (40% ATTRA-Livestock, 30% Project work, 20%-Web site flashes,
etc., 10% Management) 0.40 FTE for ATTRA
Lee Rinehart (70% ATTRA, 20% Project Development and Collaboration, 10%
Management) 0.70 FTE for ATTRA
Hannah Lewis
Jeff Schahczenski (35% ATTRA, 35% Project Development and Collaboration,
30% Project management) 0.35 FTE for ATTRA
Part time employees:
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Alice Beetz (10% ATTRA) 0.10 FTE for ATTRA
Betsy Connor
Linda Coffey (20% ATTRA) 0.20 FTE for ATTRA
Pamela Williams
Ann Baier 0.25 FTE for ATTRA
Total Livestock Team staff FTE: 6.25
Total FTE available for ATTRA work: 1.75
Outreach: Conferences
The Livestock Team would like to represent NCAT at livestock and pasture related
conferences throughout the country to distribute ATTRA educational materials and
provide various posters or presentations at the conferences. The team would also like to
pursue opportunities for professional development. The following conferences
represent opportunities for outreach and professional development:
From the basecamp document –
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American Grassfed Association
NM Organic Commodities Commission conference
NOFA NY
PASA (held in February)
OEFFA (February)
SSAWG (held in January)
WI Grazing
Upper Midwest Organic farming Conference and Organic University (sponsored
by MOSES) (held in February)
National SARE
Langston Goat Field Day, Langston, OK (last Sat. in April)
All Things Organic (held in May)
Southern Ag Workers (joint professional meeting with Animal Science)
Poultry Science Association
Terra Madre (held in October even years, including 2008)
Small Farm Conference (held in November)
Slow Food USA
Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (held in December)
American Dairy Goat Association—includes meeting for continuing education
for veterinarians, open to the public)
Small-scale cheesemaking conference
Dairy Sheep Conference (held in November)
Southern Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control
Quivira Coalition
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association Common Ground fair
(September)
National Cattleman’s Beef Association
Midwest Poultry Fed. Convention, MN – March
American Forage and Grassland Council
Society for Range Management
Practical Farmers of Iowa
ACRES USA
Outreach: ATTRA Livestock Web Site
This section on the web site will be re-named from “Livestock” to “Livestock and
Pasture” and will contain seven topic categories that have been reviewed and updated
by the Livestock Team. We will continue to update this site in 2010. Several team
members have taken on the responsibility of managing certain components of the site.
The topic categories are posted below along with the names of the specialists who will
be coordinating its content:
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Hogs, Goats, and Sheep (Linda)
Cattle Production (Margo)
Pasture, Forage, Grazing, and Range Management (Lee)
Organic Livestock (Margo)
Animal Health and Nutrition (Lee)
Other Species (Alice)
Economics, Processing and Marketing (Ann, Jeff)
Livestock Databases (Organic Livestock Feed Suppliers, and Small Livestock
Processing Plants and Services)
Other website management suggestions for the Livestock and Pasture site include:
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A specialist (web coordinator) should be in charge of updating content. Other
specialists can submit items to the coordinator for uploading to the website.
Either the coordinator can upload or pass on to John English, whichever is easier
and more feasible.
A newsworthy item should be uploaded at least once a week. This could be a
box that highlights a training event or conference, a news item, a publication, a
website, etc.
We need a section where we can upload PPT presentations (as a PDF) from
conferences so clientele can access them.
Outreach: Publications
The Livestock Team will be responsible for writing new publications and updating
existing publications. These publications fall in to the appropriate categories listed on
the ATTRA web site.
New Publications
Alternative Meat Processing and Marketing (Hannah)
Meat Buying Guide (Hannah)
Livestock in Urban Agriculture (Lee)
Integrating Livestock into Small-Scale Market Farms (Lee)
Pasture Management for Parasite Management (Margo)
Organic Livestock (Linda)
Pasture Finishing (Linda)
Animal Selection for Parasite Management (Linda)
Livestock Production and Climate Change (Jeff S.)
Updated Publications
Integrated Parasite Management (Pamela)
Llamas & Alpaca (Pamela)
Poultry publications (Betsy)
Toolbox (Linda and Margo)
Checksheet (Linda and Margo)
Goats: Sustainable Production Overview (Linda and Margo)
Dairy Goats: Sustainable Production (Linda and Margo)
Meat Goats: Sustainable Production (Linda and Margo)
Sustainable Sheep (Margo)
Value-added Dairy Options (Margo)
Multi-Species Grazing (Linda or Margo)
Beekeeping (Jeff S.)
Economics of Grass-Based Dairying (Jeff S.)
Bison Production (Lee)
Nutrient Cycling in Pastures (LS Team)
Managed Grazing in Riparian Areas (Lee)
Solar-Powered Livestock Watering Systems (Lee)
Freeze Protection for Solar-Powered Livestock Watering Systems (Lee)
Rotational Grazing (Lee)
Dairy Beef (Lee)
Organic Alternatives to Treated Lumber (Lee)
Outreach: Trade Magazines and Periodicals
In order to widen our influence, the Livestock Team is seeking opportunities to write
articles for submission to agricultural magazines and periodicals. Some of the
publications identified include:
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Growing for Market
Progressive Farmer
ACRES USA
Outreach: Web Resources and Multi-Media
The Livestock Team will coordinate with Jeff Birkby to provide content and professional
time to the development and delivery of web-based multi media outreach. This may
include webinars and/or internet radio shows.
Building Capacity and Development
The Livestock Team is committed to pursuing funding opportunities for project work in
2010. Several opportunities are currently being evaluated and include:
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Organic Grass-Fed Beef Cattle Production Education Project (Lee)
Pasture Renovation Project with Kings Agri-Seeds (Lee)
other projects
In order to manage current project responsibilities and to implement the Livestock Team
work plan for 2010, the Team is requesting management to consider hiring additional
FTEs to conduct Livestock and Pasture work. The Team has identified the following
subject matter areas for consideration:
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Poultry
Hogs
Meat marketing and small scale processing
Western rangeland management for cattle, sheep, and goats
Business and recordkeeping