Join the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nutrient and Pest Management Program and Division of Extension on Jan. 26, Feb. 2, and Feb. 9 for the 2022 Focus on Forage webinar series. Webinars are free and run from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Pre-registration is required at http://go.wisc.edu/FarmReadyResearch. One certified Crop Advisor CEU is available for each webinar.

Dates, presenters, and topics are:

• Jan 26, 2022 – Getting the Most Out of Your Silage. Luiz Ferreretto, UW-Madison Ruminant Nutrition Extension Specialist, will summarize his research work on the use of inoculants to improve the fermentation, aerobic stability and nutritive value of conventional and alternative silages and forages, including sorghum-sudangrass. Additionally, Damon Smith, UW-Madison Field Crop Pathology Extension Specialist, will discuss disease and mycotoxin considerations, including the growing prevalence of tar spot, when making high quality corn silage.
• February 2, 2022 – Alternative Forages – A Fit for Wisconsin Farms? Matt Akins, UW-Madison Dairy Extension Specialist, and Mike Ballweg, UW-Madison Extension Sheboygan County, will highlight their research work on growing and feeding forage cocktail mixes, providing an update of 2021 yield and forage quality data. Brody Stapel, co-owner of Double Dutch Dairy, will provide his perspective and suggestions for growing and feeding cocktail mixes and annual forages to a high production Wisconsin dairy herd. Lastly, Kevin Jarek, UW-Madison Extension Outagamie County and Carrie Laboski, UW-Madison Soil Fertility Extension Specialist, will share research on managing nitrogen applications annual ryegrass and forage cocktail mixes for forage yield and production and environmental quality.
• February 9, 2022 – Benefits of Including Grass in the Dairy Ration. Debbie Cherney, Professor of Animal Science, Cornell University, will share her research on the benefits of incorporating high NDFD grasses into dairy rations. She will discuss forage management and quality, as well as impacts on ration formulation and lactation performance. Kimberly Schmidt, UW-Madison Extension Shawano County, will provide an update on ongoing Wisconsin research into feeding winter cereals and other alternative forages to the dairy herd.