We are extremely excited to announce that Cherrie Nolden will be our guest speaker at the 2022 Goats On The Go® Affiliate Conference. Cherrie will speak twice at the event on March 5. One presentation will provide us with a more detailed, scientific basis for how goat grazing impacts vegetation. The other will focus on a science-based, holistic approach to managing goat health.
Cherrie’s bio: Cherrie Nolden is a forage-based farmer in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. She is working on a PhD in Animal and Dairy Sciences, and has earned a MS in Agroecology and a BS in Wildlife Ecology from UW-Madison. All three degrees involved grasslands, grazing systems and/or livestock health as components of the programs and research. Cherrie has 29 years of pastured livestock management experience. She and her husband, a soil scientist and organic fertility specialist, have purchased and operate 130 acres in southwest Wisconsin with 95 acres in silvopasture development, rotationally grazing 150 grain-free meat goats, 40 draft horses, 25 meat sheep, 30 egg layers, and 8 livestock guardian dogs. They occasionally raise grass-finished beef and pastured pigs. Cherrie has worked in multiple conservation agriculture positions interspersed between her degrees and is very familiar with Farm Bill programs, policies and practices. She enjoys teaching about invasive species management with livestock, pasture management for all species, parasitology, wildlife damage management and predator biology, livestock health, grassland bird habitat, dung beetle ecology, water quality and soil health. Systems thinking and holistic management are cornerstones of her approach and she loves helping others create profitable production systems that have high landscape function while also promoting farmer well-being.
We are very fortunate to have Cherrie to ourselves for a whole day, so you won’t want to miss the Conference on March 5, held in conjunction with the half-day hands-on clinic (March 3), and the full-day Affiliate Basic Training (March 4). Put it on your calendars, and start jotting down all your goat and vegetation management questions!