By Jerry Lindquist
This year’s 2016 Great Lakes Forage and Grazing Conference is loaded with cutting edge research and information from progressive farmers, forage researchers and educators across the Mid-West and best of all it is open to everyone right at the Michigan State University (MSU) campus.
The 2016 Great Lakes Forage and Grazing Conference will take place on Thursday, March 10 at the Michigan State University Kellogg Center during Agriculture and Natural Resources Week. The educational daylong event is jam-packed with information on producing hay, silage and pasture for dairy, livestock, equine and other farms in the Great Lakes region. Over fourteen speakers will provide the latest research and progressive farming practices on everything that is forage related.
This year’s keynote speaker for the conference will be Dan Undersander, the University of Wisconsin Forage Specialist. Undersander is one of the leading forage researchers in the United States. For over 35 years his research on alfalfa and grass forage production has been highly valued by the dairy, livestock, and cash crop hay farms. He will speak in two sessions during the conference on the future of forage genetics and on forage machinery management and innovations.
The conference will feature many other speakers including MSU Forage Specialist, Kim Cassida’s new research on alfalfa/grass establishment, Roundup Ready alfalfa, and the use of cover crops for haylage.
New testing results on the availability of sulfur in alfalfa across Michigan will be offered by Michigan State University Extension educator Phil Kaatz. For the grazing community, MSU grass-fed beef research updates will be provided by Jason Rowntree of the MSU Animal Science Department and by a group of Michigan grass-fed beef producers. Richard Ehrhardt, MSU Small Ruminant specialist will offer his findings on optimizing forages for sheep and goats. In addition the topics of baleage production and alfalfa fertilization will also be addressed. A tradeshow of businesses with products and equipment for the forage industry will also be available during the day of the conference.
Source:msu.edu