One Pasture Grass Isn't Enough: A monoculture pasture is not the goal for these producers

摘要

Kneeling in his Missouri Ozarks pasture, Denny Pogue thrusts his hands into the dense forage and tears off a wad of vegetation. A hodgepodge of legumes and grasses fills his fist. The plants are of varying heights, colors, maturities and textures. "This is one of the best things we've got going here," says Pogue of the diverse mixture of forages he's holding. He should know. This Missourian runs a cow/calf operation near St. James. He is one of a growing number of cattlemen championing the cause for"forage diversity." To them, a monoculture of one specific grass— where all plants grow at the same rate on the same timetable, containing the same level of nutrients at any given time—is not the goal.