With all the misconceptions and confusion surrounding cutting heights, many homeowners and haymakers are likely cutting their grass too short. When cut at a lower than ideal height, grasses activate s

Alfalfa removes large amounts of potassium (K) from the soil. Soil potassium levels impact plant health and can improve the ability of alfalfa to overwinter. If there is too little potassium, the stan

Your neighbor has just offered you a field of bahiagrass that hasn’t been hayed or grazed all summer. The quality is junk, so what can be done? In this video, Cheryl Mackowiak, a soils speciali

In the Midwest, hay supplies are already running short and many fields saw damage to forage quality from excessive rains or flooding. Regardless of current conditions and lacking inventories, horse ow

Photo credit: Dennis Hancock, UGAOverseeding annual crops into perennial pastures can be a helpful practice that extends the grazing season and improves the overall quality of forage. There are differ

The savvy livestock producer is always thinking ahead. Those with short inventories of hay will want to get the most grazing possible out of their fall pastures. For tall fescue, that means a shot of

Making and using ditch hay to feed cattle can be a good way to combat a feed shortage. It’s a common practice across the U.S., but balancing beef diets around it can be a challenge. In most cases

Photo credit: Melissa HerrMany factors can have an influence on the price of hay. Some of these factors are related to the characteristics of the hay itself while others may be more external in nature

This year’s weather has been far from cooperative. Many fields are flooded, and even if the rain stops, meadows and fields will see severe damage from the standing water. Overall, these fields will

Don’t be surprised if you find friendly fish swimming around pasture water tanks on some farms. As crazy as it may seem, keeping goldfish in water tanks has been reported as a method to keep water

It’s been a wet growing season — one of the wettest in recent memory — and harvest conditions have been less than ideal. Some first crop alfalfa and small grain silages that have been

Photo credit: Russ Higgins, University of Illinois After a spring of rain, humidity, and cool temperatures, the Midwest is susceptible to another year of depleted yields and low-quality silage

Water is key for the survival of animals and plants; however, its quality can play just as big of a role for an animal to thrive and grow on pasture. In a Noble News and Views article, Caitlin Hebber

Concerns are continuing to grow in the South about the possibility that toxicity associated with forage grasses is creating health issues in livestock and endangered wildlife. With the hope of determi

After being brought to the forefront by studies done at the Noble Research Institute (Ardmore, Okla.), crabgrass began gaining favor as a high-quality forage alternative. Many farmers are now consider

The traditional ways of getting hay to dry haven’t changed in a decade, but the weather patterns are changing more each year . . . and frankly, not for the better. With conditions being wetter than

This spring has not been a kind one to farmers; it’s wet, and the forecast continues to call for more rain. Fields are being left unplanted, and hay is losing nutrition with each passing day.If current

With winter resulting in substantial winterkill and a wet spring delaying harvests, a lot of high-quality forage has been turned into, at best, heifer feed. There is justified concern about forage inv

Transitioning some of your grazing acres to native, warm-season perennials can pose a utilization challenge. Pat Keyser, director of the Center of Native Grasslands Management at the University of Tennessee,

Warm-season perennial grasses are the most used forages in the South but require nitrogen fertilization to maintain productivity and nutritive value. For this reason, warm-season forage legumes are be