Chesapeake Bay-Friendly Model Horse Farm by Prince William Soil & Water Conservation District
•Download as PPT, PDF•
2 likes•546 views
The Chesapeake Bay-Friendly Horse Farm Project is a public/private partnership that has created a model horse farm for the purpose of identifying and sharing land management practices that benefit horsekeepers and the environment. This presentation by the Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District provides an overview of the project and lessons learned from on the ground conservation practices. To find out more, contact Nicole Ethier Slazinski, Conservation Specialist, at (571)379-7514 or nicoleethier@pwswcd.org
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (16)
Similar to Chesapeake Bay-Friendly Model Horse Farm by Prince William Soil & Water Conservation District
Similar to Chesapeake Bay-Friendly Model Horse Farm by Prince William Soil & Water Conservation District (20)
More from The Piedmont Environmental Council
More from The Piedmont Environmental Council (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Chesapeake Bay-Friendly Model Horse Farm by Prince William Soil & Water Conservation District
- 1. The Chesapeake Bay-Friendly Model Horse Farm Project Presented by Nicole Slazinski Prince William Soil & Water Conservation District Graphic courtesy of the Chesapeake Bay Program
- 2. The need: Help horse “farms” • Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program • Funds are for traditional, production agriculture (horse breeding farms and hay producers do qualify) • Need to address water quality and environmental concerns • Solution: Grant-funded project!
- 3. This project received funding from the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund provided by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), via grant number 2007-WQIF-19.
- 4. Oakwood Farm • Privately owned horse farm in suburbia • 4 horses on 4 acres of turnout • Overgrazed • Lacked comprehensive manure management • Muddy • Unprotected stream • Owner willing to learn and adopt new management strategies and open farm for education – Tours and education events arranged through our agency
- 5. Field 1 Front Pastures Field 2 Back Pastures
- 10. • Pastures/Rotational Grazing • Sacrifice Areas • Stream Exclusion Fencing • Water Troughs • Manure Storage Best Management Practices
- 11. Rotational Grazing • More than one field of pasture • Prevents grass from being overgrazed and dying • Allows for regrowth of grasses • Rotate to sacrifice area if all fields need to rest and regrow, or if it’s wet Rule of Thumb • If the majority of the grass in the field is less than 4” tall, take the horses off the field and let the field rest until the overall grasses are 6-12” tall.
- 12. Resting Ready to Graze
- 14. Front Field VS Back Field • Pasture Mix: Orchardgrass, Bluegrass, Fescue, Clover, Annual/Perennial Rye • No-Till Drill • No Herbicides • Applied spring 2009 • “Low-endophyte” Select Fescue • Disking • Herbicides applied • Applied fall 2009
- 16. No-till Drill seeder (back)
- 21. Fencing Types • Perimeter & Interior –Perimeter defines outer boundaries •Usually permanent –Interior defines individual grazing areas for rotational grazing •May be temporary or permanent
- 22. Painted Fencing not painted (Front) Permanent Traditional Horse Fencing Fencing painted (Back)
- 23. 5-Strand High-Tensile With Plastic Coating Only Top and Middle Strands are Hot (Perimeter)
- 24. Wood Board + 2-Strand Electrified Braid (Buffer)
- 25. Temporary 2-Strand Electrified Braid w/ fiberglass posts (Back Pastures)
- 26. Temporary 3-Strand Electric Poly Tape (Front Pasture)
- 27. • Pastures/Rotational Grazing • Sacrifice Areas • Stream Exclusion Fencing • Water Troughs • Manure Storage Best Management Practices
- 28. What is a Sacrifice Area? • An area of land you are giving up, or sacrificing, from being used as pasture • Typically consists of bluestone or stone dust • Can also be referred to as a “dry lot” or “hardened area.”
- 34. To Make a Sacrifice Area Work: Stormwater Management • Direct roof runoff and surface water away from sacrifice area – Gutters and downspouts – Downspouts connect to underground pipes that carry roof runoff to hayfield
- 39. Feeding Horses on a Sacrifice Paddock • You don’t want horses eating hay straight off of the bluestone paddock, or they may accidently digest some of the stones! • Solution: Alternative Hay Feeders! – Slows down grazing – Lengthens hay resources (need less hay) – Less hay waste
- 40. Feed Bucket Great idea, but horses would pull the hay out of the bucket, drop it on the ground, and then eat from the ground.
- 41. Hay Nets Works great, but needs regular maintenance as the horses can chew through the ropes
- 43. • Pastures/Rotational Grazing • Sacrifice Areas • Stream Exclusion Fencing • Water Troughs • Manure Storage Best Management Practices
- 44. Buffers • A buffer is vegetation that surrounds a waterway • This vegetation absorbs nutrients before they reach the waterway, decreasing pollution • Pollution refers to an over abundance of nutrients from: – Horse manure – Erosion (Loose Soil) – Over-applying Fertilizer and/or Pesticides • Horses must be fenced out of the buffer for it to be effective
- 46. Buffer Before
- 48. Buffer After (~8 months later)
- 49. Buffer After (~1 year later)
- 50. • Pastures/Rotational Grazing • Sacrifice Areas • Stream Exclusion Fencing • Water Troughs • Manure Storage Best Management Practices
- 51. Watering system on Model Farm • Existing conditions – very limited electricity – existing well – 1 frost free hydrant at barn – 2 bathtubs (used to provide water to horses) • The goal was on to plan to install frost free non-electric automatic troughs, • Trough locations planned with access from multiple fields. • 2 Bar-bar-a waterers installed.
- 55. Bar-Bar-ABar-Bar-A in 3’ of snow
- 56. • Pastures/Rotational Grazing • Sacrifice Areas • Stream Exclusion Fencing • Water Troughs • Manure Storage Best Management Practices
- 57. Horse manure generated in U.S. could fill the Rose Bowl Stadium 22x each month – add bedding and the volume doubles or triples
- 61. Stable Grid
- 64. Compost Fleece
- 65. Solar Panels
- 66. Bin 1 Bin 2 Bin 3
- 68. Before and After
- 69. CATHARPINRD SUDLEY RD EXECUTIVE DR ¯ Legend Pasture Acres Sacrifice Paddock Buffer 9 9 Fence - Perimeter 9 9 Fence - Buffer 9 9 Fence - Interior Water Trough Manure Storage Þ Gate Field 1 Front Pastures Field 2 Back Pastures
- 71. Back Pastures (~1.3 years later)
- 72. Before Seeding and Fertilizer Jan. 6, 2008 Back Pastures (~1.5 years later)
- 73. Back Pastures (~2 years later, after Snowmageddon)
- 75. Front Pastures After (~1.5 years later)
- 77. Front Pastures After (~1 year later)
- 78. Back Sacrifice Paddock Before
- 79. Back Sacrifice Paddock After
- 80. Front Sacrifice Paddock Before
- 81. Front Sacrifice Paddock After
- 82. Buffer Before
- 83. Buffer After (~10 months later)
- 86. Questions?
- 87. Partners
Editor's Notes
- Approximately $125K in funds and $125K raised in match
- Explain the water quality concerns Explain non-point source pollution Explain the effects on the Chesapeake Bay
- Some grasses can be grazed lower than 4”. See below slides on different grass types for more info. Do not use a separate field for each horse!! If completely renovating a field, it can take 90-120 days of rest until the grass is tall enough for grazing (6-12”)
- Back field.
- Pasture Mix: Kentucky 41 (endophyte-infected) Fescue, Orchardgrass, Bluegrass, Annual and Perennial Ryes, and Clover
- Tall Fescue alternative for the front field. Pasture mix used for back field; Pasture mix included: Kentucky 41 (endophyte-infected) Fescue, Orchardgrass, Bluegrass, Annual and Perennial Ryes, and Clover.
- No-till Drill seeder in the back field.
- Strips created by No-till Drill.
- Applying herbicides in the front field. Herbicides were applied before seeding. No herbicides were applied for the back field.
- Disking seed in the front field (ground too compact for No-till Drill) on Oct. 9, 2009.
- Front field after disking.
- Permanent: Fencing that cannot easily be moved. This includes wood board fencing, and sometimes electric (if it cannot be moved). Permanent fencing should be used for perimeter fencing, buffer fencing, and sacrifice areas (permanent fencing for sacrifice areas are optional; depending on your property). Temporary: Fencing that can be moved easily; most types of electric fencing are on posts that can be pulled out of the ground and moved without difficulty.
- A strong fence keeps the horses in their sacrifice area with little concern of them escaping.
- Not all the strands need to be hot. The top strand needs to be hot so the horses do not try to graze on the other side of the fence, and a middle strand to prevent the horses from trying to step through the fence.
- This is a combination of different fencing. We do not want the horses to get in the buffer, so we need something strong to keep them out, but we want to be cost-effective as well. Wood board fencing is more expensive than electric fencing. Therefore, instead of using all wood-fencing we used part electric fencing as well. The board is a strong physical barrier to keep the horses out. The two strands of electrified braid is a mental barrier. The two strands of electrified braid are hot. The horses know that the fence is hot, and will avoid the fence.
- This was three strands, but the grasses/weeds kept grounding out the electricity (see below for more information on ‘grounding’). Two strands work fine. Both strands are hot, so the horses know well enough to stay away from it. The posts are made of fiberglass. Fiberglass is flexible, so if the horses run into them, the fence will give a little. Unfortunately, they are hard to install because of their flexibility and the clayey soils. Notice in the picture the post is bending towards the right.
- All three strands of poly-tape are hot. If a horse accidently gets caught up in the fence, the tape will break easily allowing the horse to get away with minimal harm. The tape is also easy to repair.
- This is a huge truck! When considering size and placement of your gates, think about how these trucks will get through your gate, and how they will get back out. Don’t forget to make sure your gates are big enough!
- Extra nutrients and sediments that make it to our waterways can choke aquatic animals living there. The sediments also cloud the water, preventing sunlight from reaching aquatic plants and killing them as well.
- Buffer plants help absorb nutrients that wash off your property, decreasing the chances of these nutrients entering the waterway. Keeping a strong vegetated buffer is important, but you must fence your horses outside of the buffer. Otherwise, the horses will graze down the buffer, making it ineffective. Do not mow the buffer! The thicker and stronger the buffer, the more nutrients will be absorbed. Only mow under your fence if you are preventing plants from grounding out your electric fence (if you have one); for more information on grounding, see below under ‘Fencing’.
- Good idea, but needs to be cleaned more regularly.
- Bar-Bar-A is a good automatic trough to use if electricity is hard to access. It is also cheaper in the long run, as electricity does not need to be installed. This trough works on gravity. There is no sitting water in the bowl, so No Standing Water = No Mosquito Breeding Habitat! Water comes out when the horses push the pedal. Note that the water trough is in the fence line. This was chosen so that the horses have access to water no matter what field they are in, or if they are in the sacrifice area.
- A tarp or “compost fleece” can help you control how much rainwater you want in your pile – some moisture is necessary for composting
- Picture 1 (Before Seeding Before Fertilizer; 1/6/08): Back field before seeding on Jan. 6, 2008. Picture 2 (After Seeding After Fertilizer; 5/14/09): Back field after seeding and after fertilizer on May 14, 2009. Picture 3 (After Seeding After Fertilizer; 8/31/09): Back field after seeding and fertilizer on August 31, 2009 (about 110 days after fertilizer). Back field has weeds now due to seeds that did not grow and weed competition (weed seeds grew instead). Picture 4: (3/1/10): Back field about one month after February 2010’s big snow storm
- Picture 1 (Before Seeding Before Fertilizer; 1/6/08): Back field before seeding on Jan. 6, 2008. Picture 2 (After Seeding After Fertilizer; 5/14/09): Back field after seeding and after fertilizer on May 14, 2009. Picture 3 (After Seeding After Fertilizer; 8/31/09): Back field after seeding and fertilizer on August 31, 2009 (about 110 days after fertilizer). Back field has weeds now due to seeds that did not grow and weed competition (weed seeds grew instead). Picture 4: (3/1/10): Back field about one month after February 2010’s big snow storm
- Picture 1 (Before Seeding Before Fertilizer; 1/6/08): Back field before seeding on Jan. 6, 2008. Picture 2 (After Seeding After Fertilizer; 5/14/09): Back field after seeding and after fertilizer on May 14, 2009. Picture 3 (After Seeding After Fertilizer; 8/31/09): Back field after seeding and fertilizer on August 31, 2009 (about 110 days after fertilizer). Back field has weeds now due to seeds that did not grow and weed competition (weed seeds grew instead). Picture 4: (3/1/10): Back field about one month after February 2010’s big snow storm
- Picture 1 (Before Seeding Before Fertilizer; 1/6/08): Back field before seeding on Jan. 6, 2008. Picture 2 (After Seeding After Fertilizer; 5/14/09): Back field after seeding and after fertilizer on May 14, 2009. Picture 3 (After Seeding After Fertilizer; 8/31/09): Back field after seeding and fertilizer on August 31, 2009 (about 110 days after fertilizer). Back field has weeds now due to seeds that did not grow and weed competition (weed seeds grew instead). Picture 4: (3/1/10): Back field about one month after February 2010’s big snow storm
- Feb. 9, 2009
- July 2, 2010
- Good idea, but needs to be cleaned more regularly.
- Nelson checking out CC, who’s peaking through the door.
- Staff, Pete, Robin, Shea Other financial partners $125K in grant funds + $125K in match through PWSWCD and partners Time, expertise, products, services, and direct funding