Forage is your greatest resource. Cattle can survive on a diet consisting exclusively of grass or hay. However, variability of forage quality due to environmental changes (rainfall, soil profile, temperature, etc.) and the changing growth stages of the forages result in forage deficiencies and a lack of consistent nutrition delivered to the animal. Our programs are designed to help you improve animal performance by extracting the most value possible from this resource (weight gain, conception rates, weaning weights) while enhancing forage utilization.

Grass or hay makes up 80 percent to 100 percent of your cow’s diet depending on the quality and availability of your forage. By understanding forage quality and how it changes through time, we can effectively know if your forage is meeting her needs and provide the right products at the right time before and after calving to ensure cow performance is adequate for calf growth and timely rebreeding. 

Lush: Very green, high moisture with lots of leaf material. All pasture forages go through stages of growth. Forage is very lush early in the growing season, and after each time hay has been cut, provided adequate rainfall and growing conditions exist. Pasture at this stage is all leaf/no stem, and high in quality (protein, energy, and minerals).

Transitional: Less leaf material with some development of stem and seed heads. As forage continues to grow, it goes through a stage of transition. There is less leaf and more stem development. At the same time, protein, energy, and mineral content begin to drop rapidly.

Mature: Poor quality with mostly seed heads and stems, very little leaf material. Forage then proceeds to full maturity. There is a high proportion of stems and significantly less leaf material, with seed heads fully developed. Forage may still be green at this stage and then will proceed to dormancy.