The MSU Forage Research Program focuses on use of forage crops to improve sustainability and resilience of Michigan agriculture.  Resilience is the ability of a system to recover from stressful events like drought, heat, cold, soil degradation, or economic upsets.  The program is funded through federal and state grant programs, industry support, and service fees.

Ongoing Projects

• Solving Alfalfa Autotoxicity
• Agricultural Resilience CAP Project (RCAP)
• Intercropping Alfalfa with Corn
• Quantifying Nitrogen Fixation by Forage Legumes
• Can Cover Crops Mobilize Soil Phosphorus?

Completed Projects

• Managing Mycotoxins in Silage Corn
• Yield and Forage Quality of Low Lignin Alfalfa
• Forage and Cover Crop Potential of Annual Clovers in Michigan
• Building a Better Birdsfoot Trefoil
• Forages as cover crops in a wheat-corn rotation
• Intermediate Wheatgrass – A New Dual Purpose Forage/Grain Crop
• High Energy Pasture for Grass-finished Beef
• Management Practices to Optimize Roundup-Ready Alfalfa Yields
• Methods for Adding Grasses to Roundup-Ready Alfalfa
• Potassium Fertility for Alfalfa
• Managing Grass-Legume Mixtures
• Nitrogen Fertilization for Alfalfa-Grass Mixtures
• Wheat/Rye Mixtures for Early Spring Forage
• Yellow flower alfalfa
• Forages for Biofuel