Recently, I have been focusing a lot of mental energy on the description of a sustainable beef system and hopefully a research program to better understand these systems.

At the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, we have had an interesting year. In late July, a severe thunderstorm moved through central Nebraska and pounded away at the center with heavy rain and hail and wind gusts that may have reached 100 mph.

Those of you who have followed my articles know that I like to illuminate the complex challenges facing forage and livestock producers. Like you, I would prefer things were simpler, but unfortunately, just the opposite seems to be happening.

The last four years, I’ve served as the director of the USDA U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center (USDFRC) in Madison, Wisconsin.

There is a lot of interest and energy being focused on cover crops and cover crop usage across the country. In fact, as I am writing this article, there is a “cover crop meeting” going on in our conference room.

How many of you in the farming and ranching world consider yourself to be an “ecologist?” Loosely, Webster defines an ecologist as someone who seeks to better understand “the relationships between a group of living things and their environment.” So what does that mean for all of us in agriculture?

As most dairymen know, the dairy industry is coming under increasing pressure to address comprehensive environmental concerns.