Non Technical Summary
Following the impact of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina, numerous agricultural resources--including livestock handling facilities, row crop fields, tree-planted areas, pastures, hay storage infrastructure, and beekeeping operations--suffered severe damage or complete destruction. Bottomlands received alluvial soils while uplands suffered erosion. In response, we propose developing a team to lead an integrated extension-research project to: a) demonstrate and evaluate the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for frost-seeding and timely seeding of forages, b) evaluate the effects of bale grazing on frost-seeding and nutrient distribution in the landscape, and c) provide training on the use of electric fence, frost-seeding, and bale grazing. This project will target cropland, tree-planted areas, and pastures, with the dual objectives of providing forage for grazing livestock and floral resources in the landscape while stabilizing soils in the affected region. We anticipate operating at least three UAV units for approximately 3 hours per day over a 15- to 20-day period. This schedule is projected to support frost-seeding efforts across a minimum of 960 acres during February and March 2025. We anticipate reaching at least 200 people through in-person field activities, including land and livestock managers, extension agents, and farm advisors.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
807	0780	1070	90%
102	0199	1070	10%

Knowledge Area
807 - Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery; 102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships;

Subject Of Investigation
0780 - Grasslands, other; 0199 - Soil and land, general;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Goals / Objectives
As a response to the damages caused by hurricane Helene in western North Carolina, we propose an integrated extension-research project to demonstrate, document, and test the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for frost-seeding cool-season forages in cropland, areas planted to trees, and pastures. Frost-seeded forages can serve a dual purpose as a cover crop and to provide feed for livestock and flower resources for pollinators. We anticipate that pastures will represent a dominant landscape scenario to be frost-seeded; hence, we also propose to provide training on utilization of electric fence to manage livestock and to document bale grazing effects as a winter feeding strategy for livestock.?

Project Methods
Unmanned aerial vehicles will be used to frost-seed forages (i.e., rye, wheat, white clover, red clover) in areas heavily impacted by Helene (e.g., alluvial soils in bottomlands) as well as to improve ground cover and pasture productivity in uplands and steep-slope terrain. Frost-seeding needs to be timed for adequate soil-seed contact to occur which is critical for successful establishment.We will work with at least three (out of four already identified; see key personnel) commercial and licensed contractors in the region that operate and provide UAV services, as well as working with our own UAV unit, to help deploy a frost-seeding campaign during February toMarch 2025. With a carrying capacity between 25 to 50 lb for the UAVs and the specially low planting rates of 5 to 8 lb per acre for successful frost-seeding of legumes16, a single UAV flight could plant between 2 to 10 acres. If done correctly, UAVs could easily plant at an average rate of at least 20 to 50 acres per hour. We anticipate at least 3 hours of flight per day, during 15 to 20 days for adequate frost-seeding, for at least three UAV units; hence, we anticipate being able to support frost-seeding for at least 960 acres during February-March 2025.The specific areas to be frost-seeded with UAVs will be identified through a coordinated effort with the local county extension agents and the current NCDA Livestock Assistance and Beekeeper surveys. Additionally, we will launch an enrollment campaign from November 2024 to January 2025 where land and livestock managers from all the 33 counties in the Mountains can sign up to request support to frost-seed forages. We must note that frost-seeding is not limited to livestock managers or pastures, but any farmer working with other crops (i.e., corn, tree nurseries) will be able to sing up to request help for frost-seeding forages. Priority will be given to areas impacted heavily impacted by Helene, but will not be limited to those aereas only. The logistics in terms of the type of forage that is desired will be coordinated on a case-by-case basis between the landowner, the extension agent, and the project coordinator.Objective 2. As part of managing land and livestock, we propose to launch a series of electric fencing and bale grazing field day events. Both themes are already central components of the several grazing schools conducted in the state through various extension programs at NC State. In this case, a dedicated emphasis will be deployed for the Mountain region. These field events will provide land and livestock managers the opportunity to learn/master/refresh skills that are much needed at this point to manage livestock and land. Several areas lost permanent fencing that was used to manage livestock or to protect cropping areas or hives. Similarly, lack of hay storage areas will require a strategy for quick utilization of hay in the field. We anticipate that use of electric fencing, using solar-powered panels, and bale grazing will be critical tools in the recovery process of the livestock, beekeepers, and crop industries in the Mountains.Objective 3. Bale grazing allows to ration the amount of hay allocated daily to grazing livestock by unrolling hay and use of electric fencing. This technique allows better distribution of nutrients in the landscape (as opposed to hay feeding areas where livestock concentrate resulting in muddy areas and areas with high concentrations of soil nutrients). We plan to document whether frost-seeding is improved in areas were bale grazing takes place. The hypothesis is that livestock trampling improves frost-seeding and nutrient distribution in the landscape. In those areas, frost-seeding will precede bale grazing. In addition, nutrient distribution and hay waste will be quantified in the areas where bale grazing is practiced.