Success was found with improving forage and that success will be celebrated next week with the fifth annual Taste of the Range. When sugar plantations reduced production or phased out entirely, thousands of acres became available for the first time in more than 120 years.
Sugar cane is a type of grass.
It seemed only logical to some that land that had grown one kind of grass for sugar and molasses could grow another kind of grass for cattle, sheep or goat pasture. In an ironic twist, some of the grasses sugar growers considered weeds now make some of the best pasture. I got a lot of funny looks. Burt Smith, former pasture specialist with the Cooperative Extension Service, told me I'd be better off if I could find a locally adapted plant. Other growers have had problems with alfalfa, for example.