As temperatures start to rise and grass begins to green up and grow, considering the availability of forage in each pasture can help livestock producers make management decisions at turnout.

Dairy heifer grazing increases the amount of well-managed grassland in an area – improving dairy’s climate performance and supporting the regeneration of soil, water and biodiversity resources.

As muddy spring weather approaches, it is more important than ever to make sure your ranch is prepared. Spring is a season of growth and renewal, and on a cattle ranch, it marks the beginning of another busy season filled with newborn calves, preparing the fields and fixing fences to prepare for cattle to go to pasture.

Legumes are always beneficial in a pasture because they generally contain more protein and minerals than grasses and add nitrogen to the soil, but some commonly used legumes – alfalfa and some clovers – carry risk for bloat.

Have you ever considered adding a forage calculator to your toolbox? Integrating this method of measuring forage carrying capacity and stocking rate can help with the improvement of production management practices on pastures and rangelands.

Welcome to the first of three episodes of our coverage of NCBA 2024. In this episode, Carrie Veselka visits with Rob Cook, president of the National Grazing Lands Coalition, on strategies to improve grazing, Abby George discusses the impact and management of BVDV with George Perry of Texas A&M University, and Tyrell Marchant talks prenatal cattle nutrition with Ted Perry from Purina Animal Health.

Progressive Cattle Editor Tyrell Marchant visits with Ken Odde from Kansas State University about his work on the newly formed Genetic Merit Pricing Task Force and how he thinks genetic data will impact how cattle are bought, sold and raised in the future. Then, Tyrell sits down with Justin Derner from USDA-ARS at the Range Beef Cow Symposium to discuss what producers can do to make sure their pasture is doing everything it can for their cattle, and vice versa.

Feed costs comprise 60% to 80% of the typical farm budget. If we can reduce those costs by 20% or even 10%, it will happily lower our break-even price. Read more about some grazing strategies to lessen the need for stored feed.