Besides spray recommendations, pasture plantings contribute to the volume of calls that extension agents and specialists get in the spring. What should I plant? Where can I find the seed? How should I get seed in the ground?

While cool-season grasses grow well in the Upper Midwest, producing forage in the spring and again when temperatures cool off in the fall, they suffer from “summer slump” when conditions get too hot or dry, and their growth slows.

If I asked 10 different producers, “How good of quality do you think your CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) forage is for grazing?” I would expect that nine would respond with something to the extent of “Not much better than trees.”

March is the humble clover’s time to shine. Symbolic of luck, the celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day, the welcoming of spring and 4-H enrollment time, clovers are featured prominently in our culture this time of year – and they become prominent in pastures, too.

Winter cereals provide green, actively growing plants during the fall and early winter periods and are the first to green up in the spring.

While we carefully select species to plant in our fields and utilize as cover crops or plan a total mixed ration, many ranchers do not know the primary grass species being consumed by their livestock.

Improving plant biodiversity on your ranch will often increase forage supply, forage quality, and soil health, along with carbon capture potential. Increasing plant biodiversity often comes in the form of interseeding or overseeding desirable grasses and/or legumes to change the composition or productivity of a forage base. Forbs can also be of interest but are not considered here.

Successful beef producers maximize available pasture. Planting annual forages is a time-tested way to increase yield per acre for a grazing herd of cattle.