Bloat comes fast on wet clover and alfalfa in June, and the cow you find dead at daylight was fine at dark.…
First-cutting yield keeps climbing while the feed value drops every day the crop stands. Here's how to read maturity, weather, and stubble…
Turning hungry cows onto wet, fast-growing alfalfa or clover in June can froth them up fast. Here's how bloat kills, and the…
Waiting for alfalfa to bloom before first cutting trades leaf and protein for tonnage of stem. Here's how to read the field…
Frothy bloat can put a healthy cow on her side within an hour of hitting green alfalfa or clover. Here's how it…
Alfalfa weevil larvae hit the tender growing tips right before first cutting, and by the time a stand looks silver from the…
First-cutting weather in Montana comes in short windows. An afternoon spent going over the swather before it rolls out beats a breakdown…
First-cutting alfalfa carries most of its feed value in the leaves. Rake and bale at the wrong moisture and you leave the…
Pasture bloat kills fast when cattle hit alfalfa or clover regrowth wet and hungry. Here's what causes the froth, how to spot…
First cutting quality is set the day you drop the swather, not the day you feed it. Here's the tradeoff between tonnage…
Frothy bloat on lush clover and alfalfa regrowth can kill a healthy cow in an hour. Here's how it happens and what…
Waiting an extra week to cut first-cutting alfalfa or grass hay buys you tonnage and costs you feed value. Here's how to…
Alfalfa weevil larvae strip the leaves off new growth right before first cutting, and the frosted-looking field you're waiting on may be…
Baling first-cutting hay before it's dry enough sets off heating inside the bale that can spoil feed and, in the worst case,…
Lush alfalfa and clover regrowth can blow a cow up in an hour. Here's how frothy bloat sets up on June pasture…
First cutting sets the tone for your whole hay year. Waiting for more tonnage costs you protein, and cutting too short costs…
Frothy bloat hits cattle hard when they hit legume-heavy pasture in early summer, and a cow can go from grazing to dead…
Alfalfa weevil larvae skeletonize the top leaves of a stand right before first cutting, and the damage looks like frost from the…
Waiting on the alfalfa to bulk up feels like the smart play, but every day past early bloom pulls protein and energy…
Legume-heavy pasture and fast-growing irrigated grass can set cattle up for frothy bloat in June. Here's how it kills so quickly and…
Waiting for the swather to fill the windrow buys you bulk, but the protein and energy are already walking out of the…
Turning cattle onto wet, fast-growing alfalfa or clover in June can froth up a rumen and kill a good cow in an…
Weevil larvae skeletonize the leaves off your best alfalfa in June, right when the stand should be filling out. Here's how to…
Frothy bloat on lush legume pasture can drop a healthy cow before you finish morning chores. Here's how to turn cattle onto…
First cutting is where you make or lose your protein for the year. A few days' delay and the right baling moisture…