Organic dairy grazier Angie Walter shares her experience using PaddockTrac, a grazing tool being developed by the University of Missouri. Angie's family runs a 100-cow organic dairy in Villard, Minn., grazing 80-100 acres at any given time. Theirs and 12 other Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship farms are piloting the PaddockTrac through an NRCS cooperative agreement.
The PaddockTrac device, which is in the prototype phase, mounts to the front of a UTV or 4-wheeler and uses sonar waves to measure forage height in pastures. Once the data is saved and uploaded, its app generates a grazing wedge.
The Walters drive their pastures weekly, using their eyes and the data from the grazing wedge to get a fuller picture to base their grazing management decisions from. As organic producers, it also aids in necessary record keeping for quantifying what the cows are eating.
PaddockTrac could hit the market in early 2024. Read more about the DGA/PaddockTrac project here.
Jared Luhman, SFA Soil Health Lead
Angie Walter, Central Minnesota Education Coordinator, Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship
The viewpoints of the speakers expressed within or outside of this episode do not necessarily reflect the goals and mission of SFA.
Dirt Rich is produced by the Sustainable Farming Association.
If you enjoy Dirt Rich, consider supporting our work by becoming a member of SFA or donating at www.sfa-mn.org.
72: Farm Marketing & Mindset with Charlotte Smith
71: Shifting Agriculture with Dan Kittredge
70: Building Your Dream Team and Farm with Derek Schmitz
69: Grazing Management, Drought, & the NRCS
68: Dealing with Drought Roundtable
67: What is Farm Profitability?
66: From Farm to SFA and Back
65: The Emerging Farmers Office
63: Business Management at Cedar Crate Farm
62: From Planting to Pack Shed at Cedar Crate Farm
61: What’s on your mind?
60: Consults & Conferences
Revisited: Wintering Cattle Roundtable
59: Enchanted Meadows - In Transition
58: Old Farm, New Visions
Revisited: AMPed for Grazing
57: Fundamentals of Adaptive Grazing
56: Get to Know Jonathan Kilpatrick
Revisited: Planting Minnesota Garlic
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
Heal, Survive & Thrive!
Summarize | رادیو سامرایز
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast