This educational module presents forages; grasses, legumes and forbs grown for livestock feed harvested directly by grazing animals or conserved as hay or silage for use in confinement systems. This module offers basic information for growing, harvesting, feeding and storing forage. Challenges for organic forage producers will be identified and strategies for addressing these challenges will be developed from science-based resources.
Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this module, students will be able to:
- List and describe key forage types and give 3 examples of each.
- List and describe 3 challenging issues in producing organic forages.
- Describe 3 benefits of grass-legume mixtures.
- Define “grass-finished beef,” proposed health benefits, and challenges associated with this type of production system.
- Describe advantages and disadvantages of feeding no grain to organic, grass-fed dairy cows.
- List and describe 3 challenges to producing organic lamb in western Oregon and other high-rainfall climates.
- Explain what is required to be certified as an organic livestock operation in Oregon with a graph, chart or visual.