Forage Chains Connect the Dots for Profit By Dan Glenn

In this episode of Regenerative Wisdom, we travel to Fitzgerald, Georgia, where cattle breeder and soil cowboy Dan Glenn shares how matching forage resources with the nutritional needs of cattle can create a more profitable and efficient grazing system.

Dan explains why understanding your operation's forage resources throughout the year is essential for making decisions about when to calve, when to wean, and when to market cattle. Rather than forcing the cattle program to fit a calendar, he builds his grazing system around the forage resources his farm can produce.

His experience with earlier weaning provides a practical example. By moving calves off their dams at seven to eight months and onto stockpiled summer annuals, Dan was able to improve calf performance, increase cow condition, delay hay feeding, and get winter annuals established on time.

The result was a forage chain that kept cattle growing through periods that had previously been challenging.

🔑 Key Points Covered

Why successful grazing operations should rely on the cow to harvest her own high-quality forage.

How understanding yearly forage surpluses and deficits can guide profitable management decisions.

Matching the calving season to the period of highest forage quality.

Why Dan calves in February and March in South Georgia.

The challenges of managing cattle alongside a row-crop operation during peanut harvest.

Why Dan moved from late weaning to weaning calves at seven to eight months.

Using stockpiled sorghum-Sudan, sunn hemp, cowpea, pearl millet, and crabgrass for post-weaning nutrition.