The centerpiece of New York State agriculture is dairy farming, and the base for this industry is forage crops. Forage-Livestock Systems focus on interdisciplinary basic and applied research on forages and the animals that consume them. Northeast livestock farmers in the 2000's must be able to manage a profitable business that is also sustainable in terms of environmental stewardship. Forage-Livestock Systems utilizing both grasses and legumes for stored feed, as well as for grazing, can have a positive impact on sustainable agriculture in New York. For more detailed information see "Chapter 14. Forages in a Livestock System", by J.H. Cherney and V.G. Allen. 1995. In (R.F. Barnes et al., ed.) FORAGES: Vol. 1. An Introduction to Grassland Agriculture. 5th ed., Iowa State Press.

Vision of the Future......
Recently, escalating grain prices provided us a glimpse of the future. As grain surpluses decline, we are faced with the real possibility that sooner or later it will not be feasible for livestock to be a primary consumer of grain crops. Forage crops are one of the few resources that can be converted to food while sustaining and restoring our soil, water and atmosphere. With much of our land resources in the Northeast best suited to growing perennial forage crops, we have the opportunity to produce the needed milk and protein for mankind from livestock, while maintaining a sustainable forage crop based ecosystem.