Pasture App
GrassSnap Tracks Pasture Conditions
Photographs, GPS location, dates, directions and comments about pastures all in one, convenient place. That's the idea behind the University of Nebraska's new mobile app, called GrassSnap.
Available for both Apple and Android devices, the app is free thanks to support from the Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition. It is easy to use, taking ranchers through monitoring steps, stamping photographs with all the pertinent information, and then giving the option of downloading all the data to a computer.
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Bethany Johnston, Extension educator at UNL, said photo-point and photo-plot monitoring is one of the easier, more repeatable ways available today to get qualitative information about how pastures look.
Cindy Tusler, who helped develop the app, said producers can only collect information that works for them. It can be as simple as a photo or as high-end as the use of data sheets, transect lines and perspective poles.
To make the most of the app, it is recommended photos be taken at least once a year when plants are mature.
The app has a complementary text component on pasture monitoring which can be viewed online at ianrpubs.unl.edu. For questions about GrassSnap call Johnston at 308-645-2267, or go to the webpage for the app: centralsandhills.unl.edu/GrassSnap
(VM/CZ)
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