Jim Gerrish to Speak at Series of Workshops in Kansas In August

Jim Gerrish, well known Idaho rancher, researcher, grazing educator and co-founder of the Missouri Grazing School will deliver five workshops across Kansas in August. Each presentation will be tailor made for the grasses, forages, rainfall, growing conditions and grazing potential in that area of the state. Topics to be covered include: Getting the Most from Your Pastures, Building a Better Solar Panel, Kick the Hay Habit, and Grazing System Design.

The workshop series is made available due to a grant award to the Kansas Rural Center from the USDA Risk Management Agency. Kansas Farmers Union, Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition, Middle Kansas WRAPS and Kansas SARE are joining KRC as co-sponsors.

Gerrish is author of two books Management-intensive Grazing: The Grassroots of Grass Farming published in 2004 and Kick the Hay Habit: A Practical Guide to Year-Around Grazing published in 2010. Jim writes for The Stockman Grass-Farmer magazine. He has over 20 years of beef-forage systems research and outreach while he was on the faculty of the University of Missouri and 20 years of commercial cattle and sheep production on his family farm in northern Missouri.

Besides workshops and seminars, he provides an on-ranch consulting service which helps farmers and ranchers more effectively manage their grazing lands for economic and environmental sustainability. From his present location at May, Idaho, Jim writes a monthly column Grassroots of Grazing for the Stockman Grass Farmer Magazine and is a contributing editor to Beef Magazine.

The schedule for the August 16-20, 2011 workshops featuring Gerrish is:
Tuesday, August 16 - Atwood, Aberdeen Steakhouse;
Wednesday, August 17 - Hays, Whiskey Creek Restaurant Meeting Rooms;
Thursday, August 18 - Garden City, Lee Richardson Zoo, Finnup Center;
Friday, August 19 - Emporia, in conjunction with Beef Fest at Lyon County Fairgrounds.*
Saturday, August 20 - Holton, Evangel United Methodist Family Life Center

Registration and networking among ranchers will start at 9:00 a.m. with the workshop running 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

(*The August 19th Emporia workshop, held in conjunction with Flint Hills Beef Fest, which starts at 7:15 a.m. with a free breakfast and additional speakers; Jim Gerrish will start 10:30.)

Registration costs are $35 for the first registrant per farm or ranch, and $25 per person for additional registrants.

Student registration is $15. For the Emporia meeting, due to being part of the Flint Hills Beef Fest, registration is $10.

To register, click on the link to your preferred workshop. You will be able to register online, and pay by credit card, PayPal account, or send a check to the Kansas Rural Center. You can also print out the registration form and send it along with the check.

If you have questions about registration, contact Mary Howell, KRC at 785-562-8726 or kfu.Mary@gmail.com, or the Kansas Rural Center office at 785-873-3431 or ksrc@rainbowtel.net.