Hold on to your hats, folks: There’s another thing we need to be worried about. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are one of the more recent environmental concerns to crop up in agriculture.

With the widespread drought this year, many forages contain higher levels of nitrate than normal. While testing and recommendations for toxicity levels are available, a little understanding of the biology of nitrate will help utilize nitrate-containing forage.

Soil fertility testing is a valuable tool to optimize forage production. Applying too much fertilizer is not an economically or environmentally sound practice, and inadequate fertility or improper soil pH can limit forage production.

Cattle producers are familiar with livestock nutrition. They need to know the animals’ nutrient requirements and forage test the hay fed to the animals.