Forage Types

Single-statement truisms in the livestock feeding business are a rare occurrence. “If this occurs, then that will occur,” is usually prefaced by a disclaimer, “as long as Mother Nature cooperates.”

It’s “officially fall” for most producers. The temperatures are dropping; calves are being weaned; culls are getting shipped; marketing plans are being executed.

With all cuttings complete and field work wrapped up, winter is a great time to review what worked and what didn’t on your alfalfa acres so you can make changes and tweak plans for next season.

Many farmers have harvested alfalfa and then found it did not have the expected relative forage quality (RFQ). A new forage analysis, leaf percentage, may help determine the cause of the problem.

Where climate is adequate for its growth, corn silage is the main forage in intensive cattle production systems.

God’s given us 54 organic acres to work with on a grazing system and 110 cows to milk. Four years ago, we put up 55 bales of baleage. Last year, we stacked 400.