With winter approaching, it may be hard to watch the weather destroy your winter wheat crop. Fortunately, being prepared and having a backup plan may save your sanity.

As a risk management consultant, I get asked a lot of questions regarding the Pasture, Rangeland and Forage (PRF) program. Here are some questions that are asked more often than others.

One of the things we have learned over the years is that new alfalfa seedings that have good growing conditions yield much better in future years. Said another way – seeding year stress lowers yield potential of alfalfa in future years.

Erratic weather patterns across the U.S. have stressed many silage crops in the field. Some regions and forage crops have experienced prolonged high temperatures and drought.

Yeast has been part of the human diet for thousands of years, from leavening bread to fermenting wine and beyond. More recently, its beneficial properties have been used in human medicine and health supplements.

According to the USDA’s latest Cattle on Feed report, cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the U.S. for feedlots with capacity of at least 1,000 head totaled 11 million head on Aug. 1.

It's in the back of our minds now, but even coming off a good winter, it's not too early to prepare your feedstocks to get through the next drought – because there will be one.