Forages constitute a major portion of the diet of dairy cattle; therefore, factors that affect forage quality can determine the performance and health of the cows. The quality of southeastern forages is relatively low because the prevailing high temperatures favor fiber deposition. This factor coupled with heat stress reduces the productivity of dairy cows in the southeast. Consequently, strategies that increase the quality and utilization of southeastern forages are needed critically. Though effective at increasing forage utilization, strategies like kernel processing and chemical treatment have not been widely adopted. Other approaches such as application of fibrolytic enzymes have given variable results but strategic supplementation with yeast or yeast culture is often effective. Recent studies have shown that milk production was increased by replacing conventional corn silage with shredlage, BMR hybrids or mutant hybrids with lower ferulic acid concentrations. Similar research is needed for other high yielding warm-season grasses adapted to the southeast. Forage-related factors that can reduce the performance and health of dairy cows can be classified as those occurring during the growth or storage of the forage. Compounds such as nitrates, glycosides and alkaloids can accumulate in growing forages during inclement weather or under inadequate management. In addition, forage stressors such as disease, hail, pests and lodging can result in mycotoxin contamination by invasive fungi, which can reduce milk production and safety. In addition, poorly managed silage can reduce milk safety and predispose cows to low milk production and diseases due to accumulation of harmful compounds like mycotoxins, nitrates and biogenic amines or pathogens like Listeria, Bacillus, Clostridia and molds. Microbial inoculants and chemical additives can increase forage preservation, prevent accumulation of harmful compounds and inhibit growth of pathogens but their effects on milk production by dairy cows have been variable.