| BACK TO PRODUCER GRANTS | ||||
| Kelley Ranch Craig County |
Francis Murphy Osage County |
Charley Chambers Osage County |
Walt Davis Bryan County |
Howard Beavin Roger Mills County |
The Kerr Center awarded five grants through its Oklahoma Producer Grant Program in 1999. The proposals were evaluated by an independent technical committee of farmers, ranchers and ag professionals.
Both research projects and demonstrations are eligible for funding in this competitive grant program. The program focused on the Kerr Center's eight criteria for a sustainable agriculture: conserving and creating healthy soil, conserving water and protecting its quality, managing organic wastes and farm chemicals so they don't pollute, managing pests with minimal environmental impact, selecting adapted crops and livestock, encouraging biodiversity, conserving energy resources, and increasing profitability and reducing risk.
The grants awarded addressed soil conservation and quality, water quality, biodiversity, profitability, and pest management.
Kelley Ranch is located in Northeast Oklahoma near Vinita and is integrating goats with an existing cow/calf, stocker operation. The $6173 research project is for three years and will measure goat impact on vegetation as well as any additional impacts on wildlife.
Goats are important as a source of income and non-chemical brush control. Ranch manager Wallace Olson is concerned about the impact goats may have on vegetation, white-tailed deer, and bobwhite quail.
The project will explore the optimum stocking rate which allows continuous goat production while minimizing the impact on wildlife. Cooperators include Grant Huggins of the Noble Foundation, Mark Moseley of NRCS, Steve Hart of Langston University, Sam Fuhlendorf of OSU, and Roy Ball, Craig County Extension agent.
Francis Murphy ranches in Osage County on the Kansas-Oklahoma State line. His $1470 grant is for a one year demonstration project. Murphy's project will use organic matter to restore salt damaged land.
Salt damage is prevalent in Oklahoma. Erosion is severe on such sites and recovering them is difficult. Murphy's ranch has several salt damaged areas and he wishes to find an economical way to put such land back into productive use.
Cooperators include Jackie Badley of the NRCS, Dee Cooper of OSU Extension and Randall Jones, District 1 county commissioner.
Charley Chambers has a 75 head cow/calf operation, 300 head of stockers and a small meat goat operation in Osage County. His three year, $2630 demonstration project will focus on improved rotational grazing and riparian area management.
Mr. Chambers will be fencing out a riparian area and cross-fencing a pasture for better forage use. In order to water the paddocks more efficiently, a pipeline will be installed from a pond and water piped to the paddocks.
Results will be measured by monitoring for increased canopy cover in a riparian area and an increase in pounds of forage per acre. Cooperators include Jackie Badley of the NRCS and Dee Cooper, of OSU Extension.
Walt Davis operates a 2500 acre cow-calf and stocker operation in Bryan County, Oklahoma. His research grant is for three years and $7220.
The research project is titled "Effects of Dung Beetle Activity on Soil Health, Ecosystem Processes, and Farm/Ranch Profitability." The project abstract indicates that dung beetles are a very effective tool for moving manure and moisture into the soil. The project will try to evaluate the benefits of dung beetles, specifically looking at dung desiccation, dung burial, soil health and water infiltration.
Cooperators include Dr. Patricia Richardson, rangeland ecologist for the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. R. H. (Dick) Richardson, professor of integrative biology for the University of Texas at Austin, and Clay Jones, Bryan County Extension agent.
Howard Beavin has a 320 acre property near Cheyenne, Oklahoma. Fifty-five acres is in wheat and 255 acres in pasture. The $5318 demonstration grant is for three years.
Mr. Beavin will develop a planned grazing system in an attempt to improve the native pasture. Cross fencing and rotational grazing will be used.
The project is in the Sergeant Major Creek watershed, where currently there is a national pilot project underway investigating how to rehabilitate aging conservation lakes.
Cooperators include Nena Wells, district manager for the Upper Washita conservation district and Greg Allen, NRCS district conservationist.
