Summer Forages

You may remember that our ryegrass production suffered this year due to the very dry spring. We need to supplement more than usual with warm-season annuals to ensure we have enough stored forage to carry our dairy and beef cattle through the winter. Warm-season forage production is underway. We planted this sudangrass earlier this month. Summer forage is different because the soil is so warm. This seed will sprout, emerge, and be a few inches tall in just a few days. Then our first harvest will be approximately 45 days from planting. That's a big difference from our ryegrass, which is planted in October and harvested in April. They both have their place, and it takes both some years. The bottom line is that the cattle need to eat 365 days a year. We want to make sure they have the best quality forage each and every day, whether it grows in winter or summer.