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.

Everything – soil health, pasture productivity, the symbiotic relationship between grass and cattle – is interrelated. When trying to fit this all together, Riley and Jimmie Kammerer became part of something much bigger. Something good.

When is the best time to graze after a fire? This question seems simple but is quite challenging to answer because there are many factors that contribute to the context.

In most instances, the dormant season (late fall and winter) provides the best opportunity to remove litter and germinating annual grass seedlings without negatively affecting perennial plants.