USDA-ARS

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USDA-ARS Appalachian Farming Systems Research
Center 1224 Airport Road Beaver, West Virginia
25813-9423 http//www.ars.usda.gov/naa/afsrc
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Rural communities abound, with some income
generated from small-scale agriculture, forestry
and amenity attributes of diverse biota and land
use. Land use - pasture and forest, with minimal
cropland Rural communities and urban
encroachment Diverse topography and latitude
create an array of conditions suited to numerous
plant and animal species. Cool- and
warm-temperate plant communities coexist
providing long periods of forage growth for
grazing livestock also a variety of high value
forest products.
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• Mission of AFSRC
• increase profitability of small-farm
  agricultural enterprises in Appalachia
• enhance soil, water quality and environmental
  integrity
• identify niche products and develop management
  and production systems based on fundamental
  knowledge of the soil-plant-livestock resource
  continuum

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Appalachian Region
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Research Program Organization
Pasture Management
Pasture-Raised Beef
Meat Goat Production
Soil Resource Management
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• Staff and Resources
• 15 research scientists and 45 support staff
• Three farms representative of Appalachian
  landscape (total about 280
  acres)
• Office-laboratory campus on 40 wooded and
  partially cleared acres
• Collaborations Virginia Tech, West Virginia
  University, West Virginia State University,
  Virginia State University, University of Georgia,
  University of Pittsburgh, University of
  Wisconsin, USDA-NRCS Plant Materials Center,
  Alderson, West Virginia, and USFS, Parsons, WV

• soil fertility
• soil chemistry
• soil ecology (nutrient cycling)
• hydrology
• Microclimatology
• Microbiology (soil)

• grazing management animal nutrition
• plant physiology
• forage production management
• plant biochemistry
• horticulture (botanical-medicinal)
• root morphology

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Managing Biogeochemical Cycles and Rhizosphere
Ecology
OBJECTIVE Ecologically-based management
strategies for soils in forage and amenity grass
production systems APPROACH Conduct
experimentation to understand and manage patterns
of soil nutrients and soil forming processes.
Apply technology to ensure an adequate,
sustainable supply of soil nutrients for
forage-based livestock production and construct
soil for amenity grass and restoration
applications.
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• FINDINGS
• Conversion of deciduous woodland to silvopasture
  shows conservation of fertilizer phosphorus
• Bray-P decreases as tall fescue is eradicated
• Tannins affect measurement of soil proteins,
  recovery of water soluble carbon and nitrogen
• Silvopasture hospitable habitat for woodland
  salamanders
• Soil glycoprotein (Bradford reactive protein)
  related to aggregation and soil carbon storage
• Legume seedling germination and development
  varied with season

FUTURE Define seasonal fluxes of C, N, and P to
improve nutrient-use efficiency in grazed
grass-based systems Apply knowledge of soil-plant
and plant-soil interactions to construct or
restore productive soils
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Pasture-Based Beef Systems for Appalachia
OBJECTIVE Sustainable conception-to-consumer
forage-beef cattle systems, with emphasis on
production, and economic aspects of the systems.
APPROACH A consortium of USDA-ARS, AFSRC, West
Virginia University, Virginia Tech and the
University of Georgia scientists conduct an
integrated research program that delivers
sustainable production techniques, improved
economic opportunities for small-scale farming
operations, and benign or beneficial interaction
with the rural environment for the benefit of
society.
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Pasture-Based Beef Systems Research Partners
USDA-ARS steer finishing on traditional
naturalized pasture, high-quality sown pasture
(alfalfa orchardgrass mixtures) and high energy
annuals Virginia Tech forage systems for
cow/calf operations, backgrounding steers and
heifers, heifer development, and feedlot
finishing (control for pasture finish). WVU
winter stocker phase of steer production and
heifer development. Forage systems for year-long
grazing and conserved feed. UGA pasture
management and meat composition and flavor.
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FINDINGS Winter management influenced average
daily gain of finishing animals, final and
carcass weight, rib-eye area, and grade
Consumer acceptance not influenced by winter
performance Pasture-based enterprises were
profitable for producers willingto participate
in alternative marketing operations Audible
sound wave analysis, relating bite rate and
volume to animal performance, can help quantify
ingestive behavior FUTURE Production patterns
in the southern US complement those of the
mid-Atlantic and Appalachian Regions, and would
be likely to improve and sustain a 12-month
supply of cattle.
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Management of Grassland and Pasture in Appalachia
for Sustainable Forage and Livestock Production
OBJECTIVE Extend the spatial and temporal
boundaries of forage production APPROACH Create
agronomically sound and economically feasible
pasture systems to meet nutritional requirements
of grazing livestock. Define relationships of
grazing management and behavior with landscape
features, energy and water use, and ecosystem
services. FUTURE Integrate and evaluate the
economic feasibility of silvopasture as part of a
small-farm forage-livestock production system.
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AUTUMN STOCKPILING
Slow growth in autumn, and winter conditions lead
to herbage shortfall. Stockpiling can help fill
gaps in productivity and nutritive value.
Stockpiling Orchardgrass-white clover pasture
Dixon prairiegrass Tyfon brassica hybrid
mixture Productivity Prairiegrass-brassica
hybrid productive into late autumn Prairiegrass
productivity stable, while brassica hybrid
declined Nutritive value Complementary mixture
of prairiegrass and brassica hybrid
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SILVOPASTURE
Farms in the region are a mosaic of woodland and
pasture. Silvo-pasture is a means to diversify
income, and improve land-use efficiency on
small-scale farms.

• Establishment
• Selective tree removal improves
• light quantity quality at the sward
• forage productivity nutritive value
• productivity of remaining trees
• Livestock
• prepare seedbed
• establish manage sward

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SILVOPASTURE

• Management
• Defoliation
• Nutrient inputs
• Initial defoliation
• Productivity botanical composition
• modest shade open pasture
• productivity orchardgrass perennial ryegrass
  gt tall fescue
• grazing duration stocking density
  silvopasture lt open pasture
• Nutritive value livestock performance
• rate of gain (lambs) silvopasture open
  pasture
• silvopasture nitrogen-rich low available
  energy (TNC)
• Soil nutrient cycles (linked to Soil Resource
  Management project)
• bio-indicators of system function include major
  groups of soil-dwelling
• insects, and salamanders
• soil P in silvopasture associated with the
  organic P fraction

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SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION OF HERBAGE

• Extend duration of herbage production
• Synchronize production - nutritive value with
  livestock requirements
• Terrain microsite conditions complicate
  management
• Pasture and silvopastoral systems extend
  temporal and spatial boundaries
• Timing of herbage availability is as important
  as the amount

• Plant resources
• Traditional forage grasses legumes
• Prairiegrass, co-sown with forage brassica
• Chicory traditional forages supplement
  mid-season yield quality
• Bermudagrass old world bluestem managed without
  new practices

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TALL FESCUE - ENDOPHYTE ASSOCIATIONS

• Introduced tall fescue tolerates soil chemical
  and physical stresses, which might facilitate
  adaptability to a wide range of soils and growing
  conditions.
• Endophyte association influenced
• seed germination
• seedling establishment
• herbage mass allocation

Endophyte free
Endophyte infected
Root exudates (red areas) associated with tall
fescue roots depend on endophyte infection status.
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TALL FESCUE - ENDOPHYTE ASSOCIATIONS
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Grazing impacts on water quality

• About 88 trillion gallons of water flow from
  the Appalachian Region each year
• Rural communities in the Region depend on
  groundwater as the primary source
• of drinking water
• Activities associated with livestock production
  considered non-point pollution
• sources by US-EPA
• Pollutants include nitrate, pathogens,
  phosphorous, and sediment
• Problem exacerbated by highly fractured bedrock
  and karst landscape

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Meat Goat Finishing Systems for Appalachian Small
Farms
OBJECTIVE Determine plant species and management
strategies to maintain animal health, and achieve
desirable growth rates and carcass quality.
APPROACH Create pasture-based finishing systems
to produce a meat goat with desired carcass
characteristics. Identify plant species with
enhanced anthelmintic properties, immune system
support capabilities, and antioxidant potential
for small ruminant production systems.  
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• FINDINGS
• Boer gt Kiko final live grade but not growth
  rate
• Diets with added condensed tannin have less
  soluble nitrogen in
• urine more tannin-bound nitrogen in feces
• Condensed tannins polyphenol oxidase improve
  meat goat performance
• Soil fertility influences bitter tasting
  compounds in chicory (goat preference)
• FUTURE
• Economic risk analyses of key factors
  affecting meat goat finishing systems
• Use of non-traditional forages in meat goat
  grazing systems to control
• gastrointestinal parasites

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• OUTREACH
• Producer-oriented workshops, seminars field
  days
• West Virginia State Fair
• Medicinal Aromatic Plants Symposia
• Student workers graduate students
• West Virginia University Extension Service
  Forage Livestock
• School
• West Virginia Master Gardeners continuing
  education
• program
• AFGC, Certified Professional Grassland Manager
  exam
• Regional State-wide cattlemens groups, career
  fairs,
• extension field days in West Virginia
  Virginia
• Serve on editorial boards for Plant Soil
  Agronomy
• Journal Grass Forage Science