When cattle are on pasture, both forage and water quality are important for healthy animals. Surface water is particularly prone to quality issues, such as blue-green algae, salinity, mineral concentrations, or nitrate. Ben Beckman, Nebraska Extension Forage Systems Educator.

Despite their name, stable flies can be a significant annoyance and cause economic losses in pastured cattle, not just those confined in feedlots and dairies. With the recent moisture much of Nebraska has received, conditions are favorable for significant stable fly numbers. Samantha Daniel, Nebraska Extension Crops and Water Educator.

Precipitation and temperature play major roles in pasture productivity, and knowing how to adjust grazing to match current conditions is key. Are you shifting your management to meet pasture conditions? Ben Beckman, Nebraska Extension Forage Systems Educator.

Summer annual forages such as sudangrass, sorghum-sudan hybrids and pearl millet planted this spring soon could be ready to graze. There are some grazing guidelines to help avoid potential hazards. Jerry Volesky, Nebraska Extension Range and Forage Systems Specialist.

July traditionally means the beginning of the haying season for Sandhills subirrigated meadows. A key point related to the quality of meadow hay is harvest date. Ben Beckman, Nebraska Extension Forage Systems Educator.

Wheat harvest usually pegs the half-way point in the Nebraska crop growing season. As hot days shutdown wheat growth; though, there is still adequate growing season days left for new plantings of forage or cover crops following wheat harvest if soil surface moisture is not a limiting factor. Todd Whitney, Nebraska Extension Forage Agronomist.

Have you noticed tall weeds with umbrella-like white flowers in pastures, ditch banks, and along the roadsides?  It may be poison hemlock, a toxic plant to both people and livestock. Ben Beckman, Nebraska Extension Forage Systems Educator.

By mid-summer, summer annual grasses like foxtail, sandbur, and crabgrass are already up and growing—and they’re starting to cause issues in perennial hay or pasture fields. Ben Beckman, Nebraska Extension Forage Systems Educator.

In Nebraska, there are two species of fly that cause the most economic injury to pasture and rangeland cattle. Selection of an appropriate control method for each will depend on the time of year; the efficacy, cost, and convenience of the treatment. Samantha Daniel, Nebraska Extension Crops and Water Educator.

It's time for the first cutting of alfalfa, and as you're out in the fields, it's a prime opportunity to spot any issues and plan corrective actions. But what should you be looking for?