Tips & Tricks

  • Oats Plus

    Unintended Consquences

    Joshua Baker

    If we knew the reaction of all of our actions it would definitely help guide our actions. Most of us, however, learn by trial and error. Out of errors we are then able to learn and move into the future with a more solidified plan. Then there are those occasions where the negative results of our actions are hard to measure. In these cases it’s easy…

  • sacrifice area

    Taking control of our sacrifice areas and other damaged pastures.

    Paige Smart

    This is probably the hardest time of year for all of us. The rain is relentless, the mud is wreaking havoc, and the 10 day forecast doesn’t lend much hope. So what can we do about it? Right now, nothing. At least not until livestock are removed from the areas. If you are on your second or third sacrifice area, then there are a few things you can…

  • McKinley

    Staging Winter Annuals

    Paige Smart

    Winter annuals don’t make sense for every operation, but there is a large percentage of us who should be utilizing them to reduce our hay feeding bill and to increase the quality of forage our animals are grazing during the winter.

  • Crabgrass in field

    Crabgrass: A Short Step from Weed to Valuable Forage!

    Dr. Joe Bouton, Bouton Consulting Group, LLC

    Everyone knows crabgrass as a weed; few know it as a valuable summer annual forage.  That view is changing with more and more producers planting and utilizing crabgrass as part of their forage-livestock production systems. There are differences between the weedy type and the cultivated type.  Both are botanically in the genus Digitaria…