Summer 2025 has created challenges for growers and graziers across Illinois. Learn what three farmers are doing to extend the growing season and manage their drought plan.

Learn what other Illinois growers and graziers are doing on their farms to improve their livestock grazing operations. The quarterly online chats will be heavy on conversation, light on slides, so you can listen in wherever you are — in the pasture, in the truck, or home.

H-Braces are the foundation of your whole fencing system. Logan Karcher, director of producer programs for Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition, takes us through each step of construction with clear and simple demonstrations, from the tools you'll need to the finished product.

After you move cattle to a new paddock, check the consistency of the manure and the plant residuals to determine if cattle are getting the proper nutrition while leaving adequate forage behind for regrowth.

Fencing is often an obstacle when producers transition to adaptive grazing for their livestock. With polywire fencing, you can easily create temporary paddocks that can be moved easily and frequently.

A grazing stick helps producers know how much forage the herd needs and how large to make your paddocks.

Choosing the right time to move your cattle to a new grazing paddock will improve your herd's average daily gain performance.

A refractometer is used to measure brix, the sugar content in plants. Understanding the quality of your forages will help you adjust the forage options for your livestock.

Brix scoring is important because it tells us how much sugar content is in our forages and the nutrition density in our dry matter.

There is much to gain by turning livestock out on cornstalks. First, there are a lot of them across Illinois, 11.2 million acres, in fact. For minimal cost, fields can be converted to provide nutritional needs of beef cattle. And, grazing has collateral benefits for next year’s row crop.