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.

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.

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.