For more than a decade, a movement has been taking the agriculture industry by storm. That movement is called soil health. This movement was not born in a laboratory nor by legislation

For the moment, let’s put harvest timing aside, though it plays a primary role in harvested forage quality. We’ll also leave alfalfa genetics on the sideline, reduced lignin or not

Here’s the thing about biological systems: stuff happens.Such was the case for Steve Orloff in the spring of 2014. The extension farm advisor in Siskiyou County, Calif., was on a farm to troubleshoo

Breeder seed is early-generation seed produced from a polycross of multiple parent plants, creating an experimental cultivar. Breeder seed production is typically done in a greenhouse

As regulations for food animal production change, interest in growth promoters for cattle is growing. In past decades, the growth promoters were antibiotic or synthetic chemicals; however, we ar

Soil and plant potassium (K) levels have frequently come up at meetings and in conversations with concern for declining soil K levels in the Northeast

Plant breeders have been very successful at improving the yield of corn, soybeans, and most other crops

We’re so accustomed to driving over alfalfa when harvesting that we sometimes forget about the potential damage being done to the stand by wheel traffic

This year has been a year to remember for Western alfalfa producers — or quite possibly one that many would prefer to forget. Record-high hay prices in 2014 slid significantly in 2015, and now

It was difficult to attend a forage meeting in the past 12 months that didn’t have reduced-lignin alfalfa somewhere on the agenda. The HarvXtra trait is the second transgenic offering to alfalfa

The weather geeks at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tell us that 2016 was the second warmest year for the U.S. in the 122 years of record keeping. It was the 24th wettest y

After a year of prognosticating what might be the case, we now know what is the case ... or at least as close to knowing as we can be.The USDA’s Crop Production and Crop Production Annual Summary

In this Wisconsin selection nursery, some individual plants thrived, while others succumbed over time.The perennial forage plant commonly known as alfalfa in the Americas, alfa-alfa in the Middle East

Though short of the discussion dedicated to Donald Trump, it’s been interesting to note the amount of dialogue dedicated to bale net wrap during the past few months. However, it’s safe to say

With the holidays in the rearview mirror, the last vestige of a distraction to the routine of feeding cows during winter has come and gone. Now it’s snow, ice, sleet, rain, mud, cold, and wind ...

You’ve read before in this space about my opinions regarding the current USDA market hay grades and why using them is the equivalent of calling your neighbor on a party line rotary-dial phone.There�

It’s often said that drastic times are cause for drastic measures. So what do you do when hay prices reach levels not seen in many years and you’re in the business of selling hay? That was

Sol Chip, an innovative provider of Internet of Things (IoT) systems and energy harvesting solutions, today announced the introduction of its Sol Chip Comm™ autonomous, wireless

We’ve again reached that time of year when a visit from the local co-op agronomist usually has nothing to do with checking the growing crop. Rather, he or she comes calling bearing gifts of new seed

It’s Election Day — so what better time to address a forage topic that is wrought with opinion, controversy, and conflict.Through my years as an extension agent and now as the managing editor