chesapeake bay-friendly model horse farm by prince william soil & water conservation district

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

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!

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.

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

Field 1Front Pastures

Field 2Back

Pastures

• Pastures/Rotational Grazing• Sacrifice Areas• Stream Exclusion Fencing• Water Troughs• Manure Storage

Best Management Practices

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.

Resting Ready to Graze

Severely over-grazed

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

Low-Endophyte

Fescue

No-till Drill seeder (back)

Fencing Types

• Perimeter & Interior–Perimeter defines outer

boundaries• Usually permanent

–Interior defines individual grazing areas for rotational grazing• May be temporary or permanent

Painted

Fencing not painted (Front)

PermanentTraditional Horse Fencing

Fencing painted (Back)

5-Strand High-Tensile With Plastic Coating

Only Top and Middle Strands are Hot (Perimeter)

Wood Board +2-Strand Electrified Braid (Buffer)

Temporary 2-Strand Electrified Braid w/ fiberglass posts (Back Pastures)

Temporary3-Strand Electric Poly Tape

(Front Pasture)

• Pastures/Rotational Grazing

• Sacrifice Areas

• Stream Exclusion Fencing

• Water Troughs

• Manure Storage

Best Management Practices

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.”

Sacrifice Area: Back

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

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

Feed BucketGreat idea, but horses would pull the hay out of the bucket,

drop it on the ground, and then eat from the ground.

Hay NetsWorks great, but needs regular maintenance as the horses

can chew through the ropes

Alternative Hay FeederBingo!

• Pastures/Rotational Grazing

• Sacrifice Areas

• Stream Exclusion Fencing

• Water Troughs

• Manure Storage

Best Management Practices

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

BuffersStream

25’ buffer

Nutrients from

Manure

Buffer Fence

Buffer Before

Buffer After(~8 months later)

Buffer After(~1 year later)

• Pastures/Rotational Grazing

• Sacrifice Areas

• Stream Exclusion Fencing

• Water Troughs

• Manure Storage

Best Management Practices

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.

Bar-Bar-ABar-Bar-A in 3’ of snow

• Pastures/Rotational Grazing

• Sacrifice Areas

• Stream Exclusion Fencing

• Water Troughs

• Manure Storage

Best Management Practices

Horse manure generated in U.S. could fill the Rose Bowl Stadium 22x each month – add bedding and the volume doubles or

triples

Stable Grid

Compost Fleece

Solar Panels

Bin 1 Bin 2 Bin 3

Beforeand After

CA

TH

AR

PIN

RD

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 1Front Pastures

Field 2Back

Pastures

Back Pastures Before

Back Pastures(~1.3 years later)

Before Seeding and

FertilizerJan. 6, 2008

Back Pastures(~1.5 years later)

Back Pastures(~2 years later, after Snowmageddon)

Front Pastures Before

Front Pastures After(~1.5 years later)

Front Pastures Before

Front Pastures After(~1 year later)

Back Sacrifice Paddock Before

Back Sacrifice Paddock After

Front Sacrifice Paddock Before

Front Sacrifice Paddock After

Buffer Before

Buffer After(~10 months later)

Water Trough Before

Water Trough After

Questions?

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