Photo: University of California Extension What fits one production system or environment doesn’t always fit another. Grazing alfalfa in the fall and winter with sheep is one such practice

With winter fast approaching, some cattle will soon be in fields grazing on swaths and bales. Swath, stockpiled, and bale grazing are all ways to extend grazing time and are methods with economic bene

Researchers at the Noble Research Institute have been involved in a long-term study that is examining ways to extend the number of grazing days and reduce feed supplementation for the cow

Cereal rye is the most commonly used small grain for spring forage, but there are plenty of other high-quality options to boost spring inventories. Consider diversifying your spring forage

With the arrival of September, prevent-plant acres can now be harvested or grazed. Harvesting crops such as sorghum-sudangrass requires that attention be paid to whole-plant moisture since there is a

In years such as this one, when frost might outpace soybean maturity because of late planting, harvesting the crop as silage or hay becomes a viable alternative.Extension specialists at Mi

With Labor Day now in the rearview mirror, the decision to grab one more alfalfa cutting becomes more traumatic. That said, the need for high-quality feed is unquestionable on many farms. As temperat

With both the quantity and quality of forage at a premium this year in many regions, preservation of corn silage becomes paramount. One component of silage preservation is the use of bacterial inocula

In some regions of the U.S., yellow sweetclover is flourishing. With a biennial lifecycle, sweetclover exhibits very little top growth in the first year and then produces tall stalks during its second

With the large acreage of late-planted corn this year, the probability for some of that crop experiencing a frost or, worse yet, a hard freeze before it’s mature is much higher than in a normal grow

When Southern warm-season grasses go dormant and become unproductive, there are a wide variety of cool-season annual grasses that can be used to extend grazing periods into the winter and spring month

In times of excessive rain or poor drying conditions, producers turn to preservatives to bale hay before it’s fully dry. The use of preservatives allows for hay to be baled wetter than normal. Propi

Cover crops protect soil and water quality and often provide a valuable source of livestock feed. However, not much research has been done regarding the value and viability of using cover crops for fo

Alfalfa and corn balance one another out in forage systems across the Midwest and Northeast. When both are included in diets, their complementary nutritional components can be incredibly beneficial to

With all the misconceptions and confusion surrounding cutting heights, many homeowners and haymakers are likely cutting their grass too short. When cut at a lower than ideal height, grasses activate s

Alfalfa removes large amounts of potassium (K) from the soil. Soil potassium levels impact plant health and can improve the ability of alfalfa to overwinter. If there is too little potassium, the stan

Your neighbor has just offered you a field of bahiagrass that hasn’t been hayed or grazed all summer. The quality is junk, so what can be done? In this video, Cheryl Mackowiak, a soils speciali

In the Midwest, hay supplies are already running short and many fields saw damage to forage quality from excessive rains or flooding. Regardless of current conditions and lacking inventories, horse ow

Photo credit: Dennis Hancock, UGAOverseeding annual crops into perennial pastures can be a helpful practice that extends the grazing season and improves the overall quality of forage. There are differ

The savvy livestock producer is always thinking ahead. Those with short inventories of hay will want to get the most grazing possible out of their fall pastures. For tall fescue, that means a shot of