Leonore Salvado – Page 4 – Greenacres Foundation

25 May 2023

Featured, News Leonore Salvado 0 comment

Pasture Restoration with Native Warm Season Grasses

Pasture Restoration at Greenacres

You may have noticed some of the pastures at Greenacres looking a bit different than usual. This is because we used an herbicide treatment to eliminate the fescue found in these fields. We don’t typically use herbicides, but our research has found that in certain, limited circumstances, they are the least destructive and more effective method for restoring native grasses.

In 2019 we began converting some of the pastures at Greenacres Lewis Township into permanent stands of Native Warm Season Grasses through a joint research project with University of Tennessee’s Center for Native Grasslands Management. These native grasses, such as Big Bluestem and Indiangrass, were once widespread across the prairies of Ohio and the Great Plains, but almost all have been lost to land development and conventional tillage agriculture.

During this project we discovered that planting and establishing Native Warm Season Grasses can be very challenging. In the first year, the native grasses prioritize growing deep roots, and grow very few shoots above soil, leaving them vulnerable to being smothered and killed by weeds and other grasses if not managed correctly. Our research showed that targeted herbicide use to specifically reduce weed competition before planting is crucial to successful establishment of native grass species.

This spring we sprayed herbicide on fescue stands in certain fields on our Indian Hill farm in preparation for direct-drill planting of native grass seed before mid-June. No fertilizer or tillage is required. This summer we will monitor the seedlings and mow to reduce weed pressure if necessary to ensure good establishment of the Native Warm Season Grasses. Grazing animals will not return to these fields until we have had soil and forage laboratory tests that show no remaining herbicide residue.

We have set a goal to convert approximately 15% of our fescue pastures at our Indian Hill and Michaela Farm locations into Native Warm Season Grasses.

Native Warm Season Grasses are important to our generative agriculture practices for a number of reasons:

They offer excellent habitat for a wide range of grassland nesting birds.
They provide high quality forage to our cattle herds during the hot summer months.
They are native to our area and adapted to grow in shallow, low fertility soils.
They sequester large amounts of carbon through an extensive root system that can grow up to 8 feet deep.
Once established, the native warm season grasses will thrive for decades and reduce our need to plant short-term annual summer grazing crops each year such as sorghum sudan, buckwheat etc.

04 May 2023

Idea Leonore Salvado 0 comment

Paid Family Medical Leave

Paid Family Medical Leave at Greenacres

Have you ever found yourself in a difficult situation where you had to choose between taking care of a loved one or going to work? Or worse, have you had to sacrifice your own health because you couldn’t afford to take time off? What about taking time off for the birth of a baby? Many companies now offer a Parental Leave, but we don’t think that is inclusive enough. What if you’re done having kids, or don’t plan to have any, so that really isn’t a benefit to you? However, maybe your spouse is diagnosed with cancer or your aging parent has a serious illness.

This is called life. While we don’t like to think about these circumstances, it happens to so many of us, and then we are left scrambling to figure out how to balance the stress of time off, work, and pay. Sure, there is FMLA coverage for many of us, but that is not PAID time off. Some states have taken matters into their own hands and have implemented statewide Paid Family Medical Leave but that hasn’t happened in Ohio or Indiana yet.

At Greenacres, we’re committed to sustainability not just in our agriculture practices, but also in the way we treat our employees. We firmly believe that taking care of our employees is just as important as taking care of the land we farm on. We believe in putting our employees first, which is why we recently implemented a Paid Family Medical Leave benefit. This means that if you need to take time off to take care of a sick family member or if you’re dealing with your own medical issue, you can do so without worrying about losing your paycheck.

By implementing this benefit, we are showing our employees that we value their well-being and that we understand life happens. It’s important to note that this benefit doesn’t just benefit employees, but it also benefits Greenacres. By creating this safety net for our employees, we are creating a happier and more productive workforce. And who wouldn’t want that?

Cheers to a happier, healthier, and more GENERATIVE workforce!

17 Apr 2023

vet tech students vaccination cattle in handling facility

Beef, Featured, Learn Leonore Salvado 0 comment

Livestock Vaccination

Black angus cow with her calf and a flock of sheep, grazing through lush green pasture, surrounded by tall trees

Our Livestock Vaccine Practices

Vaccinations are an important part of the Herd Health Plan at Greenacres Foundation. Under guidance from our veterinarian, we use two vaccinations on our cattle and sheep every year to prevent diseases and ill health. Greenacres partners with the University of Cincinnati Veterinary Technician program by bringing Vet Tech students on-site to gain practical hands-on experience of vaccinating large animals.

Our Director of Agriculture, Michael Cox tells us that, “the vaccines we use are either ‘killed’, meaning they contains an inactive or ‘killed’ version of the disease causing germ, or ‘modified live’ vaccines, which means they contain a viable virus that can replicate, but it’s attenuated and does not cause disease in the animal. We do not use any mRNA vaccines on our animals”.

“We do not use any mRNA vaccines on our animals.”
Michael Cox, Director of Agriculture

The diseases we protect our animals against are common across the US and many of the infectious bacteria/viruses are naturally found in soil and local wildlife populations. Vaccinations protect our animals from clostridia diseases, respiratory disease and reproductive disease. Clostridia diseases are harbored in soil, typically cause rapid death in unvaccinated animals and are untreatable. ‘Blackleg’ and ‘Pulpy Kidney’ are two common clostridia diseases.

Respiratory diseases such as ‘IBR’ and reproductive disease such as ‘Leptospirosis’ cause lethargy, poor growth, lung damage, infertility and abortion in affected unvaccinated animals.

By vaccinating our livestock we are able to provide a safe and nutritious product to our consumers and ensure our livestock can remain healthy and thrive on our pastures. If you have any questions or concerns about how we raise our animals we always welcome queries and are happy to share our generative practices. You can reach us at mail@green-acres.org

14 Apr 2023

Young Tree of Heaven in Indian Hill woodlands

Idea, Learn Leonore Salvado 0 comment

Invasive Spotted Lanternfly and Tree of Heaven

Invasive Spotted Lanternfly and Tree of Heaven:
A Double Threat to Local Ecosystems

Spotted lantern fly is once again making the news since this is the time of the year when their eggs are most visible. This invasive insect species has been spreading across the United States since its first sighting in Pennsylvania in 2014. Unfortunately, it reached Ohio last year, and the extent of this insect’s impact is not fully understood.

The spotted lanternfly is a type of planthopper, which means that it feeds on plant sap using its piercing mouthparts. They can cause significant damage to trees by feeding on their sap, which can weaken the tree, making it more susceptible to disease and other pests, and even killing it in severe cases. One tree to keep an especially close eye on is tree of heaven, a favorite of the lantern fly.

Tree of Heaven, marked by pink tags, in Indian Hill woods — Tree of Heaven (marked by pink tags): an invasive species to North America and the preferred host plant of Spotted Lanternfly

Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) is also an invasive species that has become problematic in many parts of the country, including Ohio. It is highly successful due to its ability to produce clones in addition to over 300,000 seeds per year. These trees are also allelopathic meaning they can secrete chemicals into the soil that inhibit the growth of surrounding native vegetation. Greenacres is currently in the process of developing in-house methods to control tree of heaven.

What can be done to address this double threat to local ecosystems?

Report any sightings of spotted lanternflies or tree of heaven using the form or QR code found at Ohio Department of Agriculture.
Remove or treat any tree of heaven growing on your property. This can be done using methods such as herbicides, cutting and stump treatment, or girdling. However, care should be taken not to disturb or harm other plants in the area.
Encourage the growth of native plant species in your garden or landscaping. Native plants are adapted to the local environment and provide food and habitat for a variety of insects, birds, and other wildlife.

By working together, we can help protect our local ecosystems from the negative impacts of invasive species like the spotted lanternfly and tree of heaven. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to Greenacres or other local organizations for advice and support.