Nutrient composition of fed rations differs from formulated rations due to day-to-day variation in dry matter (DM) content and nutrient composition of forages, as well as mixing wagon variation and sorting.

Double-cropping with both warm- and cool-season forages in New York can have many benefits, including providing a source of forage yield in the spring that potentially leads to greater total season yields than a monocrop system, increasing rotation diversity, and providing year-round soil cover.

Forage sorghum is a drought- and heat-tolerant warm-season grass that can be used for silage on dairy farms. Since it requires a soil temperature of at least 60°F for planting, the recommended planting time for New York is early June, unlike corn, which is usually planted earlier in the spring.

Near infrared reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy has been used to evaluate forage quality since the early 1980s.

While almost 90 percent of alfalfa acreage in New York is sown with a perennial grass, alfalfa acreage in the rest of the U.S. may average more than 90 percent pure alfalfa. Interest appears to be growing in alfalfa-grass mixtures across the northern tier of states.

Higher-quality alfalfa and grass varieties have the potential to significantly increase milk production and increase the proportion of homegrown feeds in rations. Increased fiber digestibility is the most important quality improvement.