“The drought of 2012 left most farms, in a large part of the county, short on forage inventory either because they harvested less tonnage or their forage supplier has less tons to sell.

Record-high replacement forage cost makes purchasing unpalatable or decreases already thin profit margins with higher feed cost.

I get asked many questions about strategies for stretching current forage inventories and economical ways to get adequate fiber levels into cows. My answer is simple: harvest it, buy it or stretch it.”