Navy SEAL training has become legendary, and having no personal experience, I have to take at face value the accounts of those who have. In his book Fortitude: American Resilience in the Era of Outrage, Dan Crenshaw describes a portion of training called “drownproofing.”

Near-infrared reflectance spectrometry (NIRS) is no longer limited to a forage testing laboratory, but prior to investing in one, it is important to thoroughly research the features that can make or break this technology as a useful forage quality management tool.

The U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center (USDFRC) is a research center of the USDA devoted to the optimization of the use of forages in improving dairy cattle production and sustainability. The center employs 20 research scientists and 40 support staff, and hosts another 40 students, post-docs and visiting scientists.

According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), approximately 60 million acres of forage are harvested annually in the U.S. Lower commodity grain and oilseed prices coupled with high pasture rental rates and/or difficulty finding range and pasture to rent, have led some crop producers to consider ways to incorporate more annual forages into their crop rotations.