Forage Types

Winter forage is a crop that is rapidly increasing across the Northeast, central U.S. and in eastern Canada. It is a winter grain forage specifically grown for high-producing dairy cows in a high-forage diet.

For many cattle producers, it is a relief to put the cows to pasture. We have just overcome winter feeding obstacles, and many of us are ready to turn the cows out and focus on other tasks.

Alfalfa has long been appreciated for its high protein content. It is normally around 20% crude protein (CP) for dairy-quality hay/haylage and 16% to 18% CP when harvested at first flower to mid-flower for growing animals.

The ultimate equalizer in baseball is the curveball. On the dairy, we are used to facing curveballs that present themselves in many different ways – a compressor that stops in the middle of milking or a phone call that the heifers are out.

Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen – known colloquially as CHON – are the four elements that form the building blocks of all life. Without CHON, fundamental elements such as water, protein and even DNA simply would not exist.

Considering the past two years, farming and growing forages has not been easy.