Grazing Goats with Cattle: September Field Day near Porum

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Do you want to raise goats, but need some expert advice to get started? Can you graze goats and cattle together? What are the impacts on animal and pasture health? Is this “multi-species grazing” a viable option for Oklahoma?

Three of Oklahoma’s top researcher/educators will answer those questions during the Kerr Center-sponsored Multi-species Grazing Field Day, Saturday, September 27, from 9-2 on Dr. David Sparks’ 80-acre farm near Porum.

The $10 registration fee includes lunch. Register by Sept. 23 at www.kerrcenter.com or call 918.647.9123.

Through a three-year producer grant from the Kerr Center, Dr. Sparks is studying the effects of multi-species grazing on goat parasites and pasture forages.

Goat parasites are a growing problem in the South. Dr. Sparks has found that cattle can reduce goat parasite loads by consuming the parasites’ larvae as they graze.

During the field day he will talk about parasite loads in the goat herd and the overall economics of the grazing system.

Dr. Sparks has practiced veterinary medicine in Oklahoma, Kansas, California, and Arizona, and joined the OSU Cooperative Extension Service in 2006. He is Area Extension Food Animal Quality and Health Specialist serving 40 eastern
Oklahoma counties.

Langston University Goat Extension Specialist Dr. Steve Hart will present information on basic goat care and parasite management. Hart has been working with goats and goat producers for seventeen years. Langston is the state leader in goat research and outreach.

Dr. Bob Woods will present forage and pasture composition data collected from the grazing of goats and cattle together. There will be a pasture walk to view the effects on the forages in a multi-species grazing system.

Woods is OSU’s Extension Agronomy Specialist in northeast Oklahoma. In January 2008, he received the Distinguished Educator Award. He has 32 years experience providing quality information on technical research data and turning it into practical recommendations for producers.