A:   Any time that your are grazing a legume with cattle, you will need to manage bloat. You can use a bloat guard block, but not all cattle will eat the block. My recommendation has been to fill cattle up with dry forage (hay) before letting them graze the alfalfa for the first time. This practice will help reduce bloating. Never let hungry cattle graze alfalfa. Monitor cattle daily and pull any cattle that appear to be sick or not eating. Allow them a couple of days to get over whatever they have and then fill them up with dry forage before returning them to the alfalfa field for grazing.

Grazing of mid- and late-summer growth is no problem for the alfalfa stand. Ideally, it could be grazed through August to the point where it was relatively short (3 to 4 inches), Then in September, growth would be allowed to accumulate (no grazing). This is consistent with haying recommendations that suggest avoiding haying in September to allow the alfalfa plants to 'winterize'. Grazing or haying could occur again sometime in October. Good rains in August could stimulate a flush of new growth which may increase bloat risk.