Tag: forages
Planting summer annual grasses may be fix to hay shortage
Animals need alternative food sources to get the higher amounts of fiber they typically get from hay. Learn what can be substituted.
USDA: take a look at alfalfa for open acres
With forage shortages throughout much of the nation, farmers considering crops for prevented plant acres should look to alfalfa.
Short on feed? Forage for the rest of the year
Learn more about realistic forage options for acres that have either not been planted, or have had planted crops damaged by too much rain.
Maximize forage quality or reduce soil compaction?
If we harvest forages as soon as possible on wet soils what are the consequences? Get the answers in this week's All About Grazing column.
Forage-related disorders in cattle
Learn more about common forage-related disorders — bloat, grass tetany and nitrate poisoning — to prevent livestock from getting ill or dying.
Beware of frost-damaged forages
When some forages freeze, changes in their metabolism and composition can be toxic to ruminant livestock, causing prussic acid poisoning and bloat.
Save money, use livestock to harvest hay
Using livestock to make later cuttings of hay is one of the best opportunities producers have to reduce costs and make more profit year after year.
What’s lurking in your forages?
Are you scouting your forage crops for disease this fall? This may not be the first item on a producer's to-do list, but it's important.
Winter cover crops make better spring soils
Grazing winter cover crops can provide winter forage for livestock, increase soil biology and organic matter and decrease soil erosion and nutrient runoff.
An equation for successful forages
In order to maintain control of your forage system in an uncontrollable world, you need to be good at being both proactive and reactive.