Forage Types

Forage quality is of paramount importance to modern dairy operations where efficient production of home-grown forages drives profitability. With the price of alfalfa hay on the rise, and availability decreasing, a focus on producing and feeding quality over quantity has been a primary factor for producers looking to make milk versus “buying it.”

Soybeans can be harvested as a hay or silage crop. Soybean forage, similar to most legumes, tends to be high in protein and low in fiber (relative to grasses), making soybeans an excellent forage if harvested properly.

Creating a forage system to fit your cattle-feeding needs can feel daunting, especially if you live in parts of the country that struggle getting the correct amount of water.

In recent years, many in the Midwest U.S. have experienced wetter-than-normal conditions, causing headaches for many area farmers. Flood conditions bring more issues than just moisture; saturated situations can cause contaminants, alterations to the physical soil profile and a severe loss of nutrients.

Many things impact the performance of your grazing system. Pasture and range are very diverse ecosystems, and finding the sweet spot where the soil, plants and animals come together in the optimal way is the quest of the adaptive grazing manager.

In a wide array of agricultural publications, I’ve been reading about something called “Brix.” As in: We need “high Brix levels in our forages” to support good cattle growth.