Other Forage

What is silvopasture?
For good communication, right understanding rests upon clear, agreed-upon definitions. Interestingly, it’s often easier (or even necessary) to define something by what it’s not rather than by what it is.

Warm-season annual forages play a vital role in many grazing, haying and feeding operations across the country. We typically think of crops such as forage sorghums, sorghum-sudan crosses and the various millets to provide summer forage production needs in place of or as a complement to perennial forage systems.

Kansas farmer Gail Fuller (near Emporia) experimented with no-till farming during the 1980s. Later he started grazing cover crops with cattle. During the past few years he has also been experimenting with pasture cropping.

Summer annual forage grasses often are an important part of many hay, silage and pasture plans. Sudans and sorghums can produce much forage even under dry growing conditions. However, these forages tend to be more stemmy and less digestible than many cattle and cattle producers prefer.

“All things in moderation” is a mantra that applies to many things in life. Most of us like sugar, but we probably shouldn’t let it be the majority of our diet. Ruminants are no different.

The words rye and ryegrass cause much confusion. Rye (Secale cereale) typically refers to the cereal or small grain plant. It produces a grain with strong flavors and colors. Flour made from it is used to make rye breads. Recently, rye has become popular as a forage crop.