Livestock producers can benefit from fall grazing their alfalfa fields. SDSU Extension Dairy Field Specialist Tracey Erickson says standing alfalfa can serve as an excellent protein supplement for livestock grazing adjacent crop residues such as cornstalks. However, she says producers should not turn out hungry animals in those fields right away.

She says producers need to be sure the top growth has dried down following the first hard freeze.

Erickson says livestock operators also need to make sure the fields don’t get grazed down too far, so the fields will grow back next year.

Erickson also advises producers to provide a mineral supplement to their animals and make sure there is adequate access to fresh drinking water.