Dr. Carl Hoveland, a pioneer in forage livestock research, said: “Beef cattle production in the southeastern U.S. is an inefficient and often unprofitable enterprise.

We may not be thinking of winter when temperatures are 80º to 90ºF, but we should now begin preparing alfalfa for winter if we want good winter survival and high yield next spring.

Growing winter forages, a great way to increase available inventory, maximizes the productivity of your land base. Fully one-third of sunlight received in temperate zones comes during the winter season.

Failure to control the feed bill can erode ranch profits very quickly, even to the point of bankruptcy. The most economical feed is normally forage standing in the pasture.

It was well past “zero-dark-30.” It was winter. We were hauling hay south from the Mountain Home and Bruneau area in southwest Idaho to ranches south of Mountain City, Nevada.