By DANIELLA AKWANAMNYE, COLLEGE RELATIONS
Chadron State College’s Rangeland Management program is hosting Practitioner in Residence Jim Gerrish to teach a grazing management short course. Dr. Ron Bolze with the Rangeland Management and Range Livestock Production programs, said Gerrish is an independent grazing lands consultant providing service to ranchers on private and public lands across the U.S. and internationally.
Gerrish’s course, All Things Grazing – The Practical Application of the Science and Art of Grazing Management, is based on grazing planning and implementation, grazing cell design, and creating excellent pasture from the soil up. He will address the topics of stocking rate, carrying capacity, stock density, and factors that determine profitability in ranching.
The course will take place at the Rangeland Building Room 110 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. March 16, 23, and 30, and April 6, 13, 20, and 27. In-person attendance, after the first date, is optional since the class will be presented via video conference. The class is open to students, rangeland management professionals, and the public. It is optional for participants to earn one college credit hour.
“Jim worked for the nationally recognized University of Missouri Forage Systems Research Center. His 22 years of research leadership provided the foundation for many of the basic principles of Management Intensive Grazing,” Bolze said.
Gerrish lives in Idaho and works with ranchers in the Intermountain West who have irrigated pastures and native rangeland. He earned a bachelor’s in Agronomy from the University of Illinois and a master’s in Crop Ecology from the University of Kentucky.
The course is funded by the Bill and Virginia Coffee Family Foundation. For more information, contact Bolze at rbolze@csc.edu, 308-432-6237 or 402-321-0067.