Diversity into Dollars: Rethinking What Forage Is Really Worth
- Buz Kloot, Ph.D.
- Aug 4
- 2 min read
This past Friday morning, I was sitting in my local coffee shop, enjoying a cup of joe and catching up on the latest Our Amazing Grasslands video from the South Dakota Grassland Coalition. As I watched, I saw a few familiar faces pop up on the screen—SDSU’s Pete Bauman, that larger-than-life dynamo (seriously, where does he get his energy?); Josh Lefers, the rancher-philosopher who also happens to be Audubon Dakota’s Director of Conservation; Mike McKernan, a boots-on-the-ground East River rancher; and a new voice to me—SDSU’s Madison Kovarna, a beef nutrition specialist with a fresh and practical perspective.
Now, the message in this video isn’t necessarily new. But it still managed to blow my mind.
This group has been collecting data on nutrients and minerals in native grasses and forbs, alongside the usual cool-season grasses: smooth brome, Kentucky bluegrass, and crested wheatgrass. They’ve sampled these plants across their life cycles—from spring flush through mid-summer slump to fall dormancy—and they’ve put hard numbers behind what many of us have only guessed at.
And here’s the kicker: we’ve got folks, with the best will in the world, spending real money to spray out “weeds” like goldenrod or native thistle. Then, a few months later, when their cool-season-invaded pastures have lost nutritional punch by late June, they turn around and spend more money on feed supplements.
What if the very plants we’re trying to kill are the ones that can save us money?
Pete Bauman drops a truth bomb in the video:
“We tested [goldenrod] simply for protein analysis, and it graded out as high as dairy-grade alfalfa—somewhere around 24% crude protein.”
Are you kidding me?
And Josh Lefers puts a fine point on it:
“You can actually put real dollars into the value of that native plant forage.”
This is not diversity for diversity’s sake. I’ve sat at ranch kitchen tables with folks who beam as they talk about 60, 70—even 100 species—in a single pasture. That’s not just biological richness. That’s resilience. That’s forage that feeds, heals, and saves money.
My friend Dr. Fred Provenza puts it best:
“The soil takes sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water and turns the land into a grocery store and a pharmacy.”
But that only works if we manage for diversity.
This video lays that out plainly. It’s not abstract. It’s not theoretical. It’s field-tested, South Dakota-grown evidence that diverse pastures are profitable pastures.
Watch the full video:
Catch the July episode of Our Amazing Grasslands here:👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKHYzerG-QA&list=PLg6Jx7lcOmB2YcAWtowbjWSVTRBlCt17o
Short on time?
We’ve pulled a few of the best moments into video shorts on SD NRCS’s YouTube page. One of my favorites? Pete Bauman calmly explaining that goldenrod rivals alfalfa in protein. You won’t look at “weeds” the same way again.
Visit these “Growing Resilience Through Our Soils” information pages:
1. Podcast page for drought planning fact sheets, Q&As, news, podcasts, and more.
2. Video page to watch videos of other ranchers’ journeys toward improved rangeland/pasture.
3. Follow Growing Resilience on social media:
4. Our homepage: www.growingresiliencesd.com
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