Resilient Pasture & Forage Symposium

marionswcd | October 17, 2025

Are You Prepared to Bounce?

By: Becky Pineda, Ag Conservation Planner, Marion SWCD

I can think of many ways an agriculturist shows resiliency. We need to bounce back from poor crop yields, nasty weather conditions, unsuccessful breeding seasons and much more – time and time again. We learn to be prepared for what might be so we can roll with the punches and keep bouncing back. Your ability to recover from these situations makes you resilient.

Symposium attendees enjoyed a beautiful day of farm tours where they learned how producers manage their pastures.

As a sheep and rabbit producer, I often think of ways to prepare for lambing season and kindling, feeding out all the animals, and getting our animals prepped for shows. But one thing I haven’t put a focus on is making our pasture resilient to the pressures we have witnessed here in Oregon in the last several years. I was fortunate to attend the Resilient Pasture & Forage Symposium organized by the Oregon Forage & Grassland Council and OSU Extension Service.

The symposium started with a full-day tour of a seed operation and two farms. Participants learned about the seed industry and how to read a seed test. The farms we visited were a diversified livestock operation and a dairy. I was envious of the quality of pastures at both locations.

Doug Avery, Bonavaree Farm, Marlborough, New Zealand was the keynote speaker with his talk on pasture and personal resiliency.

Our second day consisted of speakers from Oregon, Washington, Montana, and New Zealand. They gave a mix of scientific backing of pasture practices along with real-world experiences to teach attendees the how and why of creating and managing a resilient pasture. There were keynote speakers, break-out sessions, and poster presentations.

Although the symposium was all about creating a resilient pasture, there was also a message on personal resiliency. Speakers shared stories of struggles – farm related and not – and left a special message of finding a way to seek help and pull yourself up by the bootstraps to keep moving forward. If you or someone you know is in need of help, please don’t hesitate to contact the Agristress Helpline for Oregon.

If you would like assistance in creating a more resilient pasture, please email me at becky.pineda@marionswcd.net. I am looking forward to the next Resilient Pasture & Forage Symposium slated for the fall of 2027 and hope to see more participants from Marion County.