Catawba Sustainability Center offers grazing school to local farmers

Two men stand by a wire fence with a black cow standing in the background. — Adam Taylor (at left), manager of the Catawba Sustainability Center, stands with Allen Williams of Understanding Ag.

Through its Grass-Fed Beef Partnership program, the Catawba Sustainability Center recently welcomed Allen Williams of Understanding Ag to the farm to discuss soil health, adaptive stewardship, and ecosystem processes impact livestock with about 30 local farmers, Virginia Tech students and researchers, and other community members.

The full-day grazing school kicked off in the classroom before moving to the field for an up-close look at regenerative practices in action on the former dairy farm turned Virginia Tech living laboratory of sustainable farming.

Participants had the opportunity to discuss cattle management and sustainable grazing techniques as well as dig into soil health and how that affects pasture forage.

Click on a photo below to see a larger version.

Photos by Diane Deffenbaugh for Virginia Tech.