We all use the term crude protein to describe nutritional value without much thought about it, as if crude protein were something that has been around forever, like pi or I Love Lucy.

Spring is my favorite time of the year. The strain of calving season is wrapping up, and the days are getting longer with warm weather setting in for good.

Developing a nutritional program that meets the needs of lactation and facilitates a return to cyclicity before the subsequent breeding season takes an understanding of how cattle partition nutrients and how that impacts their overall nutritional requirements.

Forage analysis is the first step to understanding animal protein supplementation requirements. Most producers are familiar with crude protein and understand how this value compares with livestock needs.

Every environment has unique opportunities to succeed and overcome production issues. These include feed costs, environmental stressors, health challenges unique to geographical areas and local or regional economic climate. Operational resiliency relies on our ability to address challenges.

As the majority of the cow herds enter the late-gestation stage of production with rapidly increasing nutritional requirements, the lasting impacts of drought conditions become a priority and major influence on supplementation strategies.

Except for forage producers using hay analyses for marketing purposes, the real advantage of hay testing is not simply getting the results, but using those results to make meaningful decisions and make the hay feeding period more efficient.