Wisconsin farmers have been growing biomass for generations, says Kevin Shinners. They just have a different name for it. "Biomass is really just poor-quality forage," says the UW-Madison agricultural engineer. "We allow it to get very mature and it's really high in fiber, so it doesn't make very good animal feed, but it makes great biomass."

Rain makes grain, and forages too, according to Ohio State University Extension beef expert Stan Smith. The old saying about precipitation and crop production applies especially to stockpiled forages in a year when frequent rains precluded forage producers from harvesting hay at its peak quality.

It's the time of year when Universities publish their 2011 forage trial results. How did the various corn silage, alfalfa and other forage varities perform in field tests during the past year?

Here are the Top 10 most-viewed articles that ran in Progressive Forage Grower or Progressive Forage Grower e-newsletters during the past year.

1. Western alfalfa hay situation and outlook
Dairies in the six western states of California, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Utah and Arizona produce around 38 percent of the U.S. milk supply. Dairies in these states consume approximately 65 percent of the alfalfa hay produced in the seven western states. In the past 27 months some dairies in the West have only seen six to seven months of profitability, some a few more months depending on their operation.