This project received 2017 funding from the U.S. Alfalfa Farmer Research Initiative (aka Alfalfa Checkoff). Brandon Schlautman is the lead researcher from The Land Institute on this project. Email Brandon Schlautman. 

As we enter winter and begin to think about spring, it may be the time of year when many of you check fence conditions to keep livestock in or out of neighboring fields.

Each bale of hay contains mineral nutrients that come from soil reserves or from applied fertilizer. When fed to livestock, most of these nutrients will pass through the animals and can by recycled for future forage growth.

In an earlier edition of Progressive Forage, we featured an article that compared a football team to the basics of farm finance. In that analogy, the safety position on a football team was compared to your farm’s equity.

Grazing management requires planning for the future and acting in the present. Planning is integral to success. Set goals for the operation, evaluate current assets, and then sketch out a plan to reach your goals.

Sometimes what has worked for years isn’t working anymore. Running a stocker program has worked for Cooper Brothers Farm for decades, but circumstances today have changed, and they’re converting to a cow-calf operation.

In recent years, budgets for public breeding in forage grasses and legumes have been decreasing. Public universities and government agencies with already limited activity in grass and legume breeding are moving those resources to other crop breeding and trial activities.

The year 2019 is here. Although it is the middle of winter and very little forage is growing, producers still need to be thinking about their forage production and pastures.