Educational Materials
These documents were written for a more general, less scientific, audience. They are useful for educators, producers, industry reps and policy makers. All documents may be copied for educational purposes.
All materials are in PDF format. Click here to download the free Adobe Reader, including web browser plug-in.
Especially for Teachers
What is Forage? A basic description of forage in the form of pastures, hay and silage.
Forage is Good for the environment. An explanation of the many ways that forage benefits the environment.
Sustainable Nutrient Cycle. All living things need nutrients. This is an explanation of how nutrients are cycled through crops, cows, and people.
What Do Dairy Cows Eat? A description of the customary - and not so customary - feeds that dairy cows eat.
Rumens Make Cows Special. An explanation of a cow's rumen (the first of four chambers in her stomach) and why it allows cows to eat things that humans can't eat.
How Do Cows Make Milk? A diagram showing how cows break down the nutrients in feed and then reassemble them in another form to make milk.
A Peek Inside a Dairy Cow. A diagram of a cow's digestive system and also of the inside of an udder where milk is produced.
Cows are good citizens. Big picture at how cows help society by making good use of land, eating byproducts of the food, fiber and biofuel industries, and more.
How is a cow like an ethanol production plant? A handout explaining how both cows and ethanol plants use fermentation to convert one form of energy into another.
Major greenhouse gases (GHG) produced on dairy farms. A handout explaining which greenhouse gases are produced where on dairy farms.
Microbes keep cows alive. Rumen microbes help cows digest feed. They're also a good source of protein for cows.
10 reasons cows need forage. A handout listing reasons forages are good for milk production, cow health, the soil, and the environment.
Let me tell you a little about dairy farms. This colorful book, narrated by a dairy cow, teaches young people about dairy farms while also describing what’s happening at the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center farm near Prairie du Sac, WI.
Welcome to the USDFRC Farm. Four coloring pages that also include information about the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center farm, dairy cows, forages, and the environment.
Forage Production and Grazing
Improving the establishment and subsequent yield of alfalfa interseeded into silage corn. A Fact Sheet about research on interseeding alfalfa with silage corn (during corn's last year in the rotation), using plant growth regulators on the alfalfa that will ensure alfalfa is successfully established in corn.
Perennial forages benefit soils, other crops, and water quality in important ways. A Fact Sheet explaining the direct benefits of perennial forages used in rotation or as a cover crop, and the more far-reaching benefits of perennial forages in terms of improved soil and water quality.
Growing high-quality grasses for dairy rations requires attention to detail. A Fact Sheet with advice on growing grasses as an intentional source of high quality forage for dairy rations.
Measuring the trade-off between alfalfa yield and quality across four harvest periods. A Fact Sheet with harvest recommendations based on the improving knowledge of the relationships among alfalfa yield, quality, and persistence.
With larger bales, heating occurs at lower moisture levels; loss of energy can be substantial A fact sheet discussing the greater potential for heating and for energy loss in large bales
Planting date effects on the yield and nutritive value of fall-grown oat cultivars. A Fact Sheet discussing which types of oat cultivars to plant in the fall based on how late in the growing season they're being planted.
A quick lesson in plant structure, growth and regrowth for pasture-based dairy systems. A Fact Sheet describing plant growth and structure and how they're affected by weather and grazing management.
Effect of residue height and timing of grazing on pasture quality, productivity and persistence. A Fact Sheet answering common questions graziers have about the timing of grazing based on the time of year and condition of the plant.
Redesigning alfalfa: Capturing more protein for economic and environmental sustainability. A Fact Sheet explaining USDFRC research with condensed tannins and a PPO/o-diphenol system for improving the nitrogen use efficiency of alfalfa.
50 years of forage. A 7-page handout discussing top trends and game changers in dairy forage systems from 1967 to 2016. Taken from the USDFRC display at the 50th World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI.
Manure, Nutrients and the Environment
Research enhances nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon use on farms. Nutrients such as N, P, and C are critical to crop milk production on a farm. This fact sheet explains the various pathways these nutrients take on the farm and ways that producers can put more nutrients into milk and crops and fewer into runoff, leaching, and gaseous emissions.
Using MUN to reduce nitrogen emissions from dairy farms. A Fact Sheet showing how milk urea nitrogen, in addition to being used to monitor feed efficiency, also can be used to help reduce nitrogen emissions from dairy farms.
Airborne pathogens from dairy manure aerial irrigation and the human health risk. A fact sheet describing a study that both measured pathogens in irrigated manure and estimated the human health risk from manure irrigation.
