By TOM KELLY
Editor and Publisher

Beef cattle, poultry, and timber are the major agricultural income producers in the North Louisiana hill country. In some situations, including experiments on--going at the North Louisiana Hill Farm Research Station at Homer, all of these plant and animal species share use of the same land -- with economic results that make the value of the whole package greater than the sum of the individual parts.

These operations were seen in action at the Hill Farm Field Day on September 21, when about 200 farmers, cattlemen, dairymen, and forest landowners viewed the results of a variety of experiments showing results of pasture fertilization on grass growth and stocker calf production, cow--calf production on pine plantations, and heard reports on issues in dairy management.

In different research experiments, results are evaluated for a variety of applications: How well does the pasture crop grow under various fertilization schemes? How do cattle grow when grazed on different pastures? Which outcome is most profitable economically? How well do cattle and trees and pasture grasses grow individually when raised on the same land, with various fertilizations -- including poultry litter -- for the pasturage. And, of increasing importance in today's world, what kind of runoff water quality results for adjacent water bodies, from the various combinations of fertilization, animal waste recycling, and harvesting methods?

Federal EPA and State Department of Environmental Quality monitors are pushing -- and being pushed by Federal courts -- for answers to the latter questions, under mandates of TMDL rules for agriculture and forestry.

Driving these points home at the September 21 Field Day was lead--off speaker Jan Boydstun, who heads the water quality division of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

Ms. Boydstun, whose grandparents farmed and grew timber in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, told the Field Day guests that farmers, cattlemen, poultry farmers, and the forest industry, all share interests in effects of EPA regulations for Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) of pollutants for water bodies.

Operations on the land -- including poultry, pasturing, timber harvesting, and row cropping -- all confront the TMDL issue, with federal EPA regulations and the federal courts "watching the way we do business." Ms. Boydstun said some of the waterbodies in North Louisiana are showing problems with fecal coliform and oxygen shortage, and it important to know the impact of farm and forest operations on these conditions.

She told the farm--oriented group, "I strongly recommend getting with the Extension Service and NRCS, and talk about" the use of Best Management Practices (BMPs) to minimize runoff problems due to agriculture and forestry operations.

The LADEQ official said she does not expect mandatory permits on pasture and farming operations "if we keep the water fishable and swimmable."

"Even if we know all the answers, it is hard to implement," Ms. Boydstun said. "I don't know how long the Federal government will allow us to solve" the problems.

Seeking pasture BMPs

Dr. Marcus Eichhorn of the Hill Farm Research Station, and William Grant of LaDEQ, teamed up to present results of BMP tests for use of poultry litter as fertilizer on Bermudagrass.

Dr. Eichhorn indicated that optimum growth of forage grass on the tests plots resulted from application of eight tons of poultry litter per acre. The results were compared with a plot with no fertilization, with commercial fertilizer, and with applications of four, eight, and 16 tons of poultry litter per acre.

Mr. Grant of LaDEQ reported that levels of fecal coliform in a nearby control pond were unsafe for human consumption, from a control plot with no fertilization, and from each of the plots using commercial and poultry litter fertilization. Levels of chemical contaminants were within safe ranges on all tests, from no fertilization up to 16 tons of poultry litter.

As fertilization levels increased, grass grew thicker, containing runoff more efficiently, Grant said.

The tests indicate that the native soil alone contains unsafe bacteria that leach into streams and waterbodies, making open, untreated water unsafe for drinking; any child knows it's unhealthy to eat dirt, or to drink water from open streams.

Infiltration of fecal coliform and other bacteria makes its way into streams and water bodies from a variety of sources, including wild animals.

Thus, farmers and foresters are faced with questions of what impact their activities have on clean water, above and beyond naturally occurring contamination, and what they may reasonably do other than follow the voluntary BMPs already established as workable in practice.

Following the fertilization tests one step further, Jackson Parish County Agent Eddie White of Jonesboro reviewed results which showed economic feasibility of feeding out stocker calves on pastures grown with similar levels of commercial and poultry litter fertilizers. In a test with 156 Angus--sired crossbred calves from the Station herd, a group pastured on a plot using four tons of poultry litter per acre, supplemented with a later application of 50 pounds of nitrogen fertilizer, netted a profit of slightly over $20 per animal, accounting for all costs including a fair market value for the calves.

Cows and trees, or trees and cows?

Remarkable for the aesthetically pleasing scene of cattle grazing under a canopy of healthy pine trees, as well as for the doubling--up of economic value of the land plot, is an on--going experiment with timbered grazing pastures at the Hill Farm station.

In a series of separate plots, the Station is carrying on studies involving pasturage with broiler litter fertilization, growing underneath timber stands that follow planting, thinning, and harvesting routines familiar to landowners, foresters, and loggers throughout the Piney Woods.

As pointed out by Dr. Sid DeRouen of the Hill Farm Station, the beef cattle operation provides year--to--year cash flow while the trees grow through their stages to final harvest and reforestation.

The studies are also looking at the environmentally--important impact of runoff water quality from use of broiler litter and cattle waste.

The terms "agroforestry," and "silvopasturing" came into conversations as farmers listened to such cross--bred terms deriving from "silviculture," a.k.a. forest management.

Dr. Terry Clason, a forester at the Hill Farm Station, combined the skills of forestry and cattle management, pointing out test plots for various forest practices, as well as wildlife forage neatly woven into the system -- all of which is partitioned with electric fences charged with solar--powered batteries.

More information on activities at the Hill Farm Station is available on the internet at www.agctr.lsu.edu/wwwac/research/hillfarm/index.htm.

The Hill Farm Research Station is a unit of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, which is the research divison of the LSU Agricultural Center. The Station was established in 1947 to develop programs of profitable and effective agricultural land use in the Coastal Plain of North Louisiana. Research is conducted in broad areas of beef, dairy, forestry, and forage crops. Visitors are always welcome, Station officials say.