Being a forage producer is a pretty straightforward proposition: The goal is to turn the sun’s energy into high-quality forage as efficiently as possible.

Brassicas are cool-season annual forages that can be utilized as pasture during the spring, summer and late fall grazing seasons when cool-season perennial pastures may not be as productive.

I am sitting here at my desk in July contemplating how to write a magazine article that will be interesting and relevant for forage producers nationwide.

“Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is an annual grass that invades pastures and increases fire frequency,” says Dr. Ann Kennedy, a recently retired soil scientist/soil microbiologist from ARS (Agricultural Research Service) USDA at Pullman, Washington.

Will grazing more and feeding less hay always increase profitability? There are many cases where cattle farmers could graze more days profitably.

As growers become progressively more in tune with soil test results and new mapping technologies, they are seeking ever more information from their partners in agronomy – because spending money on the front end can often lead to saving money or getting better harvests, or both.

Some scientists predict that within 20 years robots will have the ability to think for themselves. I know people who are freaked out by this idea, assuming the robots’ first thought will be that they could do a lot better job of running this planet than we are.