With the rising cost of raising and feeding dairy heifers in confinement, there has been more interest in putting young stock out to pasture. Rotational grazing can lower expenses, minimize labor for
Damaged forage stands from a harsh winter, deteriorating stands from a wet spring, and the approaching warm summer weather have left farmers questioning what options they have for growing forage this
With late planting of corn now a given and more than the usual amount of alfalfa winterkill, this might be a year to think about planting summer annuals such as sorghum and sorghum-sudangrass hybrids
Hay & Forage Grower is pleased to announce that Michaela King has joined the team as our 2019 summer editorial intern. King just completed her sophomore year at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
As stored forage supplies start to run low, more and more producers are turning their livestock out on pastures earlier than they would like. With this advanced start to the grazing season, it i
From time to time, the question is raised about fertilizing alfalfa with nitrogen (N) to either boost yields or improve crude protein (CP) concentration. With alfalfa being a
Sometimes new machinery technologies solve one problem but create a new one. That might be the case when it comes to disc mowers, which have largely replaced sickle-bar mowers on most haymaking operat
A combination of meager hay supplies and low wheat markets has set up a situation where grazing or haying winter wheat may have more value than if harvested for grain. In the University of Nebraska-Li
It’s been taking numerous regions of the U.S. by storm and, in many cases, nothing is being done to stop the invasion. Once an occasional nuisance, poison hemlock has officially become a
“Weather permitting, if there was ever a year to focus on hay quality over quantity, this has to be it!” says Stan Smith, Ohio State University extension program assistant in Fairfield County.
Investing in fertilizer to enhance the growth of native grass pastures and hayfields has long been theorized as a questionable practice. Eddie Funderburg, senior soils and crops consultant for the Nob
Aside from crude protein, perhaps no forage analysis metric defines its quality more so than neutral detergent fiber (NDF). A compelling argument could be made that NDF is even more important than cru
Not to be mistaken with rotational grazing or ultra-high stock density (UHSD) grazing, high stock density (HSD) grazing is the practice of intentionally grazing livestock at higher concentrations than
For spring calving herds, getting cows bred in the late spring and early to midsummer on toxic tall fescue pastures can be a challenge.“I personally prefer fall calving, but I also believe that we
Picking corn hybrids, especially for silage, isn’t quite as easy as it used to be in terms of the sheer volume of candidates now available. However, what has changed from when Dad or Grandpa tackled
After a rather challenging growing season last year, the possibility for mycotoxin production in feedstuffs, such as corn silage, was much higher. In many cases, that possibility became a reality.Whil
Based on data from USDA’s Illinois Production Cost Report, farmers will be paying more for fertilizer in 2019 compared to a year ago.“All sources of nitrogen are higher with anhydrous ammonia
The challenging growing conditions of 2018 have left many dairy farms short on forage supplies. So, going into the 2019 growing season, what are some options to bolster forage inventories? Mark S
In many parts of the Midwest, this winter has been one for the record books and likely one that most livestock and alfalfa growers would like to forget.That, however, won’t be possible just yet as
It’s not a foreign concept; saving harvested seed for replanting has been a long-standing practice on many farms. There is also the practice of “brown bagging,” which is setting aside