Farmers Share Conservation Practice Experiences at Clarke County Grazing Roundtable

Farmers in White Post, Virginia, traded successes and lessons learned from implementing conservation practices that benefit their land and livestock while reducing pollution to local waterways Wednesday. 

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is a partner in the Mountains-to-Bay Grazing Alliance, which hosted the roundtable Wednesday, providing local farmers an inside look at conservation practices in action at a local 227-acre farm.

“Rotational grazing is a regenerative farming practice and remains one of the most effective ways to improve soil health and reduce pollution from farms to the rivers and streams that feed the Chesapeake Bay,” said Matt Kowalski, Chesapeake Bay Foundation Virginia Watershed Restoration Scientist. “We were excited to be part of this roundtable so new and experienced rotational grazing farmers could hear from each other about their experiences and the benefits of putting these practices in place.”

The grazing roundtable kicked off with Ryan O'Connor of Green Rock Enterprises explaining to the group the rotational grazing, tree plantings, grazing infrastructure, and portable fencing and water troughs put in place when he began managing the farm three years ago. 

“This land had been continuously grazed. The consequences of that were pretty obvious. The grass was short, spare, a lot of noxious weeds everywhere. But now we have a lot more ground cover, diversity, a lot more grass. We're still learning, but over time, I think we’ll continue to see more benefits of these regenerative practices,” O’Connor said. 

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the local Soil and Water Conservation District, and the National Resources Conservation Service were some of the organizations that helped implement these projects over the years.

After visiting the grazing operation, farmers chatted over dinner with other producers and technical experts about incorporating rotational grazing into their farming operation. Farmers expressed ways they planned to change their fencing and asked questions about timing for rotating the grazing livestock.

This grazing roundtable comes at a pivotal time in Bay restoration. Virginia is expected to miss 2025 pollution reduction deadlines set by the federal-state Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. 

This increases the urgency for Virginia Governor Youngkin to recommit to Bay restoration and address challenges identified by the latest science at the December Chesapeake Executive Council meeting of Bay state leaders. 

A recent EPA milestone report noted Virginia’s significant funding in recent years for these agricultural best management practices. While they have helped reduce pollution, the report noted that agriculture and stormwater runoff from developed areas remain major sources of pollution into the Chesapeake Bay and the rivers and streams that feed it.