Perennial cool-season pastures are the predominant forage source for ruminants in the transition zone of the United States, as they often provide the most economical systems for pasture. Cool-season forage systems are characterized by high yields in spring and early summer and low summer production with variable fall regrowth depending on species and weather. Providing grazing year-round can be challenging due to fluctuating weather patterns and differences in seasonal growth distribution of pastured forages.

One way to fill in the gaps between peaks in forage production in cool-season systems is to utilize both summer and winter annuals. These provide alternative forage sources when cool-season pastures are less productive or dormant. Annual forages also tend to have greater nutritive value than perennials but are a more expensive source of nutrients due to high and recurring establishment costs..

To gain more information on the economics of various forage systems for organic dairies in the Mid-South, the University of Tennessee led a large collaborative study funded by a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative grant. One of the goals of the study was to compare the on-farm yield and nutritive value of summer and winter annual forage mixtures to a multi-species perennial pasture mixture with the goal of extending for both spring and summer grazing. Five farms in Kentucky and Tennessee were chosen to participate in this project, and on-farm results will be presented from two of the farms in Kentucky that had similar grazing systems and consistent forage stands. Read about this study by looking under publications on the Grazing Tab of the UK Forage Website or directly here.