COURSE CONTENT
This course has eight lessons as follows:
Lesson 1. Scope and Nature of Forage Resources
 Introduction- Terminology
- Types of Forage
- Types of Forage Lands
- What different Animals Eat - Avian, Monogastric, Ruminants, Pseudo Ruminant
- Managing Forage Ecosystems
- Over grazing
- Continuous vs Rotational Grazing
- Ecosystem Health
- Weed Types
- Weed Populations
Lesson 2. Grassland Species and Ecosystems
- Different Ways to Feed Animals
- Different Fodder Systems
- Different Fodder Plants - grasses, legumes, roots, wildflowers, forbs
Lesson 3. Fodder Trees and Shrubs
 Definitions- Advantages & Disadvantages of Fodder Trees
- Using Fodder Trees
- Harvesting Foliage - pollarding, coppicing, browse blocks, leaf fall, silvopasture systems
- Criteria for plant selection
- Financial considerations
- Considering Tree Species - Acacias, Bamboos, Beech, Black locust, Carob, Honey Locust, Pome Fruits and many more
Lesson 4. Forage Establishment
- Natural area Grazing
- Seeding
- Soil - soil biome, rhizosphere, autotoxicity
- Weed Management
- Biodiversity -riparian zone, birds
Lesson 5. Forage Management
 Regenerative Grazing Management- Improving Soil Quality
- Strategies for Soil Improvement - crop rotation, tillage, zero tillage, fertility testing, soil compaction, soil cover
- Fertiliser Management
- NPK
- Using Legumes
- Irrigation Management
- Animal Management
- Animal Access Management - hedges, wire, barbed wire, electric fence, stone walls, banks/rises, gates, digital fencing tech
- Controlled Burning
- Pest and Disease Management
Lesson 6. Forage Quality and Use
- Understanding Quality -palatability. intake, digestibility. nutrients, anti quality forage, animal performance
- Composition and Analysis- moisture content, crude protein, fibre, energy, minerals, relative feed value etc
- Cutting
Lesson 7. Forage (animal) related disorders
 Recognising ill health- Seasonal and Conditional Disorders -bloat, acidosis, nitrate poisoning, prussic acid, grass tetany, phytoestrogens, etc
- Overgrazing
- Parasites
- Worms
- Species Related Disorders - fescue taxicosis, endophyte toxins, ryegrass staggers, anti quality components, phenolic compounds
- Seasonal and Conditional Disorders -plant poisoning
- Disorders Associated with Stored Forages
Lesson 8. Preserving Forage as Hay and Silage
- Making Hay - curing, weather factors, etc
- Mowing
- Conditioning
- Swathe Manipulation to Speed Drying
- Hay Storage and Preservation
- Phases in Silage Fermentation
- Silage Storage
- Silage Management
AIMS:
 Discuss the nature and scope of forage plants eaten by animals, both in captivity and in the wild. - Identify the comparative characteristics of grasses and other low growing fodder plants from different natural and created habitats, including grasses, legumes and forbs.
- Identify the comparative characteristics of grasses and other low growing fodder plants from different natural and created habitats including a range of trees and shrubs.
- Explain how forage plants may be established effectively in a managed pasture.
- Explain how to manage a landscape to optimise forage production in a way that is sustainable, both economically and environmentally.
- Explore factors that impact the quantity and quality of forage produced by a landscape and the effect on productivity of forage production.
- Identify common problems that can arise in livestock and other animals as a result or the forage/fodder they eat.
- Harvest and store forage plants for feeding animals after a period of storage.
Why Study Forage Management?
Managing environments and promoting natural ecosystems is key to generating sustainable environmental systems.
- Gain knowledge and understanding in how to establish forage plants pastures and established landscapes - an important part of the management of lands and their environment.
- Understand how better to manage pasture to provide all year round grazing and forage, whilst managing soil quality, irrigation, and the access livestock and animals have to these areas.
- Learn from highly knowledgeable and experienced academics. Study online or by eLearning- studying whenever and wherever you want. Enrol today and start learning!
If you have any questions at all, our forage management tutors are more than happy to help.
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