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| Midwest Forage Association | |
|---|---|
| Name | Midwest Forage Association |
| Formation | 1950s |
| Type | Nonprofit association |
| Headquarters | Midwest United States |
| Region served | Midwest United States |
| Membership | Forage producers, extension agents, researchers |
| Leader title | Executive Director |
Midwest Forage Association is a regional nonprofit professional association serving forage producers, researchers, extension personnel, and allied industry stakeholders across the Midwestern United States. The association functions as a nexus among land-grant universities, state departments of agriculture, and producer organizations to coordinate applied forage research, extension programming, and policy outreach. Its activities connect practitioners with scientific resources, continuing education, and technology transfer to support forage-based livestock systems, conservation, and sustainable biomass production.
The association traces its origins to cooperative meetings among extension specialists at Iowa State University, University of Minnesota, and University of Wisconsin–Madison in the postwar era, when interest in improved pasture, hay, and silage production grew alongside mechanization at Michigan State University and Ohio State University. Early conferences attracted faculty from Purdue University, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, and Kansas State University who shared trial results on legumes and cool-season grasses, paralleling national initiatives led by the United States Department of Agriculture and research at the Agricultural Research Service. Over subsequent decades, collaborations expanded to include specialists from South Dakota State University, North Dakota State University, and University of Nebraska–Lincoln, while major forage breeding programs at Clemson University and Pennsylvania State University influenced cultivar adoption. The association adapted to shifting commodity prices, conservation policy changes under farm bills like the Food Security Act of 1985, and evolving producer needs during the bioenergy era linked to projects at National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
The association's mission emphasizes improving forage productivity, quality, and sustainability by linking research, teaching, and extension across institutions such as Texas A&M University and Virginia Tech. Objectives include promoting adoption of best management practices validated at University of Kentucky, facilitating cultivar evaluation networks related to programs at University of Maryland, and advocating for resources analogous to investments made by the McKnight Foundation in agricultural research. The organization seeks to foster workforce development through training modeled after extension curricula from Cornell University and to support policy dialogue informed by analyses from Resources for the Future and the Environmental Defense Fund.
Governance typically follows a board model with representation from state extension systems, university researchers, and industry partners similar to structures at American Society of Agronomy and Crop Science Society of America. Committees oversee research coordination, educational programming, and awards, echoing committee models used by Soil Science Society of America and Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. An executive director manages staff and liaises with partners including commodity groups like National Cattlemen's Beef Association and conservation organizations such as The Nature Conservancy. Student chapters and young professional networks mirror initiatives at Future Farmers of America and American Forage and Grassland Council affiliates.
Programs cover on-farm demonstrations, variety trials, and nutrient management workshops delivered in cooperation with Natural Resources Conservation Service field offices and state departments analogous to Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Activities include pasture renovation clinics drawing experts from University of Missouri and forage utilization seminars inspired by work at University of Tennessee. Outreach often incorporates decision-support tools developed in partnership with research groups at Iowa State University and extension platforms used by Oregon State University. The association organizes field days that showcase rotational grazing techniques promoted by proponents at Rodale Institute and silage management methods aligned with research at University of California, Davis.
The association facilitates multi-state research trials on forage species, pest management, and soil-health interactions, collaborating with programs at University of Florida and Louisiana State University for warm-season species and with North Carolina State University for mixed-species systems. Extension work emphasizes translation of peer-reviewed findings from journals like Journal of Dairy Science and Agronomy Journal into practical fact sheets and webinars, often co-produced with extension teams at Penn State Cooperative Extension and Nebraska Extension. Partnerships with federal initiatives such as the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program support grants for on-farm experimentation and graduate student fellowships based at institutions including Rutgers University.
Annual meetings bring together presenters from land-grant universities, industry research labs such as Dow AgroSciences (now part of Corteva Agriscience), and agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency to share peer-reviewed proceedings and abstracts. The association issues newsletters, technical bulletins, and peer-reviewed proceedings analogous to publications from American Forage and Grassland Council, with distribution to university libraries and repositories at Library of Congress. Special symposia have featured keynote addresses by leaders from World Agroforestry and award lectures recognizing lifetime contributions paralleling honors from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
Membership comprises extension educators, university faculty, private consultants, seed companies, and producers, with ties to state commodity boards such as the Iowa Cattlemen's Association and regional coalitions like the Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable. Strategic partnerships include collaborations with National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, conservation districts coordinated through the National Association of Conservation Districts, and research links to U.S. Geological Survey programs on riparian buffers. International exchanges have occurred with researchers associated with CIMMYT and CIAT to share forage germplasm and management lessons.
Category:Agricultural organizations in the United States