Harvest & Storage

Special attention should be paid to the cutting height when harvesting switchgrass or other native warm-season grasses for forage or biomass (Figure 1).

When Tryg Koch and his partner established Heritage Custom Farming in 2006, they had no land of their own and worked through their first season with nothing but a borrowed tractor.

We all like scores: golf scores, bowling scores, limestone scores – single numbers that tell us volumes about complex situations. We use scores all the time. A bowling score of 300 is not just good; it’s a perfect game. A golf score of 300 is, well, not. Sometimes scores go by different names.

Improving forage quality continues to be a hot topic for dairy managers and nutritionists as they look for ways to support higher levels of herd production.

When it comes to bale wrapping, there may be a little more wiggle room for putting up a quality product than once thought – according to research at the University of Arkansas and the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

When offering advice on dairy ration formulation, one of the phrases often mentioned is: “Test your forages.” Nutritionists seek to learn the nutrient composition in order to balance for energy, amino acids, fat and other nutrients.