Johnsongrass is an aggressive perennial grass that’s mainly considered a weed. However, it has actually been used as forage in the southern U.S. for over 150 years. Johnsongrass has a surprisingly high level of quality as forage when grazed at the appropriate time. But there are some serious toxicity issues that can occur when the grass undergoes environmental stress.

Annual ryegrass in the pasture – if you love it, keep it. If you hate it … well, that may be a problem.

When I do a Google search of the word noxious, three words typically come up: harmful, poisonous or very unpleasant. If we apply this to weeds forage producers fight, we often have some that are harmful, some that are poisonous and many that are just very unpleasant.

Summer brings both warmer days and more humidity, conditions that can challenge our livestock and the forages they graze.

Can beef cattle be finished efficiently on pasture? That was a question another extension specialist at the University of Kentucky and I had seven years ago when corn prices were soaring to unprecedented levels, and feedlot finishing costs were high.

Native warm-season grasses such as big bluestem and switchgrass are good options for complementing cool-season grass forage systems.

For all of us who have grazing livestock, we have two seasons that overlap: the growing season and the grazing season. But can we make one or the other longer?

When I teach my course on pasture management to livestock producers and get to the topic of grazing, the ranchers ask very practical questions, such as: When should I open the gate to let the animals into a field?

Livestock producers whose cattle rotationally graze permanent pasture or reseeded leys have the opportunity to cash in on the multiple benefits legumes have to offer by adding them to their forage systems, says Jerry Hall, director of research for Grassland Oregon.

Crabgrass is a hated weed in the world of turf grass management and is often seen as a plague in lawns and on sports fields.