Forage Production

The primary agriculture enterprise in the Southern Great Plains (particularly southern Oklahoma and northern Texas) is forage-based beef cattle systems (e.g., cow-calf, stockers). These profitable operations perform well but not without obvious challenges.

Since its early origins in south-central Asia, alfalfa has spread around the globe and is utilized as a top-quality forage for livestock. The feeding value of the crop has made it the most cultivated forage legume in the world. Despite this distinction, there has always been the desire by alfalfa workers to improve alfalfa’s performance to an even higher level.

Many areas of the West weren’t settled until the turn of the 20th century, so it’s a big deal when Western producers can track their farms and ranches back five generations.

Last November, one of the deadliest fires in U.S. history screamed through central California. An entire nation watched as the town of Paradise went up in flames.

A while ago, I attended a conference on leadership in San Antonio, Texas. Whenever I think about leadership, I think about something a minister shared with me. He said the mark of a good leader is not how well things go when they are in charge, but rather how smoothly things go once they are no longer leading.

Alfalfa hay is the bread and butter of Alturas Ranches in northeast California – but what’s made the ranch a stalwart in the California hay industry might be a mindset bent on continual improvement.