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.

Warm‑season annuals are gaining attention in the Southeast as producers look for higher‑quality forages that outperform traditional bahiagrass and bermudagrass.

In recent years, producers across the Midwest have increasingly turned to sorghum as a flexible forage option. However, careful management is required to avoid maladies such as prussic acid poisoning.

Native to Ethiopia, teff grass holds up well under drought conditions. With drought common in many parts of the country, teff offers up an interesting option as cattle feed. But does it live up to the hype?

Livestock enterprises can use crop acres seeded to cover crops and crop residue to stretch the grazing season and save on feed costs. Crop operations benefit from the nutrient value added through livestock manure and to help with pest management.

Sorghum-sudangrass is a C4 (warm-season) annual. It can easily grow 10 feet tall and yield more than 5 tons of dry matter per acre during the hot summer.

While producers and industry professionals alike recognize why forage sampling is important and generally agree with the oft-cited mantra of, “You cannot manage what you do not measure,” taking sufficient and accurate samples often falls to the bottom of the priority list.

Three traits have revolutionized the game of sorghum breeding.