Grasses and Grazing

In Nebraska and many areas of the Midwest, summer pasture is a hot commodity – and often harder to find or more expensive than winter feed.

Converting pastures from toxic endophyte-infected tall fescue to novel endophyte-infected tall fescue can be a difficult and complex task, given the hardiness of this grass-fungal association and the pervasiveness of toxic endophyte-infected seed.

Forage is the foundation for all cattle and equine diets. The digestive systems in ruminants such as cattle, goats, deer and elk and the hindgut-fermenting species such as horses, elephants and rodents, all digest forages through a process called fermentation.

Brassicas are cool-season annual forages that can be utilized as pasture during the spring, summer and late fall grazing seasons when cool-season perennial pastures may not be as productive.

I am sitting here at my desk in July contemplating how to write a magazine article that will be interesting and relevant for forage producers nationwide.

“Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is an annual grass that invades pastures and increases fire frequency,” says Dr. Ann Kennedy, a recently retired soil scientist/soil microbiologist from ARS (Agricultural Research Service) USDA at Pullman, Washington.