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Grazing Field Day - press release




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE        CONTACT: Gwen Roland, (770) 412-4786

                                   Valerie Berton, (301) 405-3186

March 18, 1997

        Twelve Aprils Grazing Field Day Planned

For more than a decade Tom Trantham has worked toward having lush,
April-like grazing year-round for his dairy herd. In the past three years,
he has fine-tuned the system with the help of a Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education (SARE) grant. As the funded research period comes to
a close, Trantham is inviting anyone interested in grazing to attend his
field day and barbecue on Thursday, May 8.

"The day will amount to a crash course in rotational grazing," says
Trantham, who switched from conventional dairying to management-intensive
grazing after almost losing his business in 1993. "Everything we have
learned will be presented verbally and on paper at the morning sessions.
Then in the afternoon, a tour of the dairy will show that knowledge at
work. There will even be manufacturer representatives demonstrating
rotational grazing equipment such as no-till drills and fencing."

The research has helped Trantham establish several nutritious
grass-and-legume pastures.  Today, his 17,000- to 18,000-pound herd average
attests to his success.

Rob Myers, national director of SARE, will deliver the keynote address. Dr.
Jean Bertrand, Dr. Fred Pardue and Dr. Bruce Pinkerton, the Clemson
University scientists who coordinated the research, will make detailed
presentations and distribute handouts compiled from project data. Other
speakers will include Tom Trantham and extension associate Terry Sudduth.

The indoor sessions will take place from 9:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. at the
Ruritan Building in Moonville, South Carolina. The barbecue lunch and tour
will be at Trantham's Dairy in Pelzer, South Carolina. There will be a $10
charge for the bar-be-cue lunch and reservations must be made by April 20.
Call Tom Trantham at (864) 243-4801 to reserve a lunch or to get directions
to the field day.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Valerie Berton
SARE Communications Specialist
0322 Symons Hall
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
(301) 405-3186
(301) 314-7373 (fax)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++