As more farms successfully move to the profitability of high (>60%) forage and very high (>70%) forage diets; the forage production becomes ever more critical.
Legume production is key to 1: reducing the need for expensive soy meal whose protein costs 3x more than protein from alfalfa (lower cost of producing milk); 2: high nitrogen prices – legumes can fix a tremendous amount of nitrogen/a/ year compared to grass stands that need purchased N; 3: first year rotated corn after legume needs no additional side dressed nitrogen.