Some folks, I suppose, look at a forage test and see only a list of numbers. That’s kind of like looking at a map of Wyoming and seeing only a patchwork of roads.

Watch out for the Maillard gang this summer. Across the country, these guys sneak into barns and burn them down. Official police documents may list the cause as “suspicious” or “spontaneous combustion,” but the real culprit is this gang. There are four members: Amadori, Schiff, Strecker and their leader, Maillard. They’re involved in all sorts of shady deals – but they like to specialize in hay. Our hay.

This article is the first of a two-part discussion intended to explain the mechanics and organization of privatized forage discussion groups. Watch for part two in a later issue. Click here to read part-two.

When is a pasture walk more than a pasture walk? When the farmers and ranchers in a discussion group help each other in unexpected ways. When a meeting about forages leads to decisions far larger than the conditions of that pasture. I want to share with you one of those meetings. Last spring, the monthly meeting of our local forage discussion group was held on a member dairy farm. The farm was located south of Portland, Oregon, in the emerald green fields of the Willamette Valley. It was a clear, cool evening, not a cloud in the sky. We met on a leased property 15 miles from the home place.