Forage Types

A total mixed ration (TMR) is defined as a method of feeding cows that combines feeds formulated to a specific nutrient content into a single feed mix that contains forages, grains, protein sources, minerals, vitamins and feed additives. This method of feeding has been highly adopted since the 1950s because it allows cows to consume a nutritionally balanced meal with every bite. Feeding a TMR has both advantages and disadvantages.

Properly balancing livestock forage demand with available supply is imperative for profitable ranching, yet it is the hardest task to accomplish. Precipitation produces forage, and forage produces beef, lamb and milk.

Producers can choose from a wide variety of forage species when they create a forage system from scratch. Options include both annuals and perennials, with both warm- and cool-season species represented, and the varieties available within species are many.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) funded a research project conducted in Kentucky, Minnesota and New York to evaluate high-quality alfalfa and alfalfa-grass mixtures.

There has been great interest in cover crops in recent years for a number of reasons, but few scientific studies have evaluated cover crops in semi-arid regions (less than 20 inches of annual precipitation and greater than 40 inches of open-pan annual evaporation).

Cover crops have several important jobs to do over the winter, the most commonly valued of which include erosion control, increased organic matter, soil health, nitrogen management, improved water retention and weed suppression.