Farming is ever-changing and improvements to perform timely field operations can impact soil health. Larger, road-ready trucks and equipment with higher tire pressures and larger axle loads made to spread manure, plant, spray and harvest quicker can cause severe soil compaction.

In a whole farm context the focus on high-quality forage has shifted to the right-quality forage for each group of animals on the farm. This, however, is not an excuse to relax goals on producing high-quality forage. We all know that a number of factors, from weather to equipment breakdowns, can ruin the best of plans.

The dairy and livestock industries have seen continued advances in options available to improve forage management, from crop species and variety selection, to harvest management, to recognizing the class of animals on the farm that will most benefit from different forage types and qualities.