Maintaining a healthy forage resource is vital to the ecological and economic sustainability of rangelands. The goal of forage management is to find an acceptable balance between forage yield and forage quality, while allowing the forage plants to stay healthy and vigorous following grazing or harvest. Yield and quality cannot be maximized simultaneously, and different management strategies are required to optimize these two factors separately. Forage yield (tons per acre, animal unit months) and plant persistence are usually maximized when plants are harvested at mature stages of growth. Forage quality, however, is usually highest when plants are harvested in a young, leafy stage of growth, at which point forage will be high in protein and digestibility and low in fiber. The challenge is to manage both forages and livestock to optimize forage yield, quality, and persistence as well as animal performance, health, and reproductive capabilities.
Cool-Season and Warm-Season Forage
Seasonal Changes in Forage Quality and Quantity