A soil professor at Lincoln University in Jefferson City is using a $1.65M grant for a climate-smart agriculture project. Tunsisa Hurisso said that the project is aimed at addressing a critical issue facing livestock producers.
“That critical issue is the cost of production of winter forages, which represents, by far, the largest expenses for livestock producers, due to large commitment to machinery cost and maintenance,” he told Missourinet.
His project examines whether crops like grain sorghum and forage crops can be grown together for fall and winter grazing to meet livestock energy and protein demand.
“It is going to maximize land use,” Hurisso said. “It’s going to improve soil health. It’s going to promote biodiversity, and it’s going to mitigate some of the climate change problems that the farmers are facing, and potentially produces healthier livestock.”
The proposed grazing system would help reduce expenses associated with machinery, grain, hay, forage, harvest, and storage, including labor expenses, something Hurisso said makes entry into livestock farming more accessible to all farmers.
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