Kyler Thompson rolled a 1,000-pound bale of alfalfa across a pasture north of LaHarpe Wednesday. With each turn a layer of protein-rich forage came off, prompting about 25 cows to come quickly to indulge.
Cows find alfalfa tasty, but, being an expensive commodity, it is given in limited amounts as a supplement to prairie hay, basic wintertime forage for cattle.
According to U.S. Department of Agriculture price tracking, alfalfa is fetching upward of $250 a bale, prairie hay about half that much.
When he finished the alfalfa’s…
Drought torments area agriculture
