Keynote Lectures
Location
New Delhi, India
Start Date
2015 12:00 AM
Description
Forage/livestock production is complex, and best management options are often site-specific, but some concepts have broad application. The intent of this article is to provide an overview of research-based management approaches that the authors believe are necessary to ensure the sustainability of forage/livestock farms. This overview discussion is needed because livestock agriculture is changing, thus creating both challenges and opportunities for producers. In the last 30 years, beef numbers in the USA have declined by 20%, but production per cow has more than doubled, resulting in increased total production on less land with fewer animals. Similar statistics exist for the dairy industry. But in recent years, input costs (especially equipment, fertilizer, and fuel) have risen. Prices for livestock products have fluctuated, and grain costs are much higher, thus affecting the overall cost of traditional finishing programs. The result is that forage is more valuable than it has ever been, and improving forage management will pay bigger financial dividends than in the past. Producers who stay in business will need to increase their focus on a number of management areas. Examples include: (1) selection of the optimum species and varieties for the soils, climate, and enterprise; (2) forage crop fertility; (3) establishment; (4) use of forage legumes; (5) forage quality; (6) profit-robbing disorders such as fescue toxicity; (7) grazing management and (8) hay storage and feeding losses.
Citation
Lacefield, Garry D. and Ball, Don, "Stakeholders Integration for Sustainable Use of Temperate Forage/Livestock Agriculture" (2015). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 24.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/23/keynote/24
Included in
Stakeholders Integration for Sustainable Use of Temperate Forage/Livestock Agriculture
New Delhi, India
Forage/livestock production is complex, and best management options are often site-specific, but some concepts have broad application. The intent of this article is to provide an overview of research-based management approaches that the authors believe are necessary to ensure the sustainability of forage/livestock farms. This overview discussion is needed because livestock agriculture is changing, thus creating both challenges and opportunities for producers. In the last 30 years, beef numbers in the USA have declined by 20%, but production per cow has more than doubled, resulting in increased total production on less land with fewer animals. Similar statistics exist for the dairy industry. But in recent years, input costs (especially equipment, fertilizer, and fuel) have risen. Prices for livestock products have fluctuated, and grain costs are much higher, thus affecting the overall cost of traditional finishing programs. The result is that forage is more valuable than it has ever been, and improving forage management will pay bigger financial dividends than in the past. Producers who stay in business will need to increase their focus on a number of management areas. Examples include: (1) selection of the optimum species and varieties for the soils, climate, and enterprise; (2) forage crop fertility; (3) establishment; (4) use of forage legumes; (5) forage quality; (6) profit-robbing disorders such as fescue toxicity; (7) grazing management and (8) hay storage and feeding losses.
