Forage Types

Looking across a pasture, we should expect to see grazing animals, a diversity of forage species, fences with gates and drinking water sources. Not so obvious is the dynamic flow of energy, nutrients and water above and below ground. But rest assured, this is occurring constantly, just at different rates depending on the seasonal growth cycle.

Like many of you, an intense interest for cattle develops in the blood and soul of a person, to the degree that it is hard to describe. It is in our DNA and is often a passion we can’t seem to let go of, even if we tried.

The Great Plains is the major grassland of North America and extends from the boreal forest in Canada (Alberta, central British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan) all the way south to the Mexican border.

There are many reasons alfalfa has been known as the “Queen of Forages.” It is a highly nutritious and palatable forage with many benefits to livestock including high rates of digestion and intake.

Have you made your new year’s resolution yet? If not, I have one for you: Let’s all lose weight – the weight of not knowing what to do with those winter-feeding areas.

“People think rotational grazing is an exact science, and it’s not,” says Roy Boldridge. Boldridge grazes Angus-Hereford-Simmental-cross cows in Culpeper County, Virginia, and has put haymaking and grazing days to the test to find his profit center.