Pasture managers have a different-looking toolbox than most farmers. Somewhere deep in the corner of those toolboxes, buried under the grasses and legumes, are the brassicas. Although they are n

This spring, I seeded some container varieties of lettuce in planter boxes near a shaded area of my makeshift home garden. My harvest was far from fruitful and only afforded enough leaves to put on a

Forage harvesters have a plethora of moving parts and possible adjustments. In part, this is so the machines can be fine-tuned to the many different types of crops that may be chopped in a given

The next few weeks will be a busy time for farmers and forage choppers who are harvesting corn for silage and taking final cuttings of alfalfa. Targeting moisture and maturity levels for these feed cr

I’m not a Facebook social butterfly; in fact, I don’t have any friends on the social media behemoth. That’s by choice, and thankfully, I have plenty of good friends in real life.Even

Nutritive value and forage quality are often used interchangeably, but they are not synonymous. If the terms were Russian nesting dolls, the former would fit inside the latter, representing one piece

Olympic athletes train and compete in the events for which they were built for. That’s why a long-distance runner likely wouldn’t medal in the 100-meter dash, and a sprinter probably couldn’t

Few people get it exactly right the first time, but designing a fencing and watering system plays a large role in the efficiency and productivity of the overall grazing system. According to University

Some of the same farmers who felt the death grip of a historic drought last year have faced torrential rainfall and excessive flooding this summer. Saturated soils and prolonged standing water have am

August marks a significant demarcation date for forage producers. With only a month of what we typically consider summer left, the start of the cooler fall season becomes reality with a one-page flip

A Logan, Kansas, farmer was charged with wire fraud after scamming Montana and Wyoming cattle ranchers out of online hay sales. Jory Parks pleaded guilty to the arraignment and faces a maximum of 20 y

A phone call to my dad went straight to voicemail the other day, only to be followed up a few hours later with a text that said, “Sorry I missed your call. The agronomist was here digging up corn

Much of the excess precipitation that has plagued the Midwest so far this summer has come in the form of severe weather. In addition to heavy rains, high winds, thunder, and lightening, these storm ce

Farmers are known to have strong opinions and often readily express them. From a pasture management perspective, few topics illicit stronger feelings than when the clipping topic is put on the table.I

It was the Sons of the Pioneers who first brought the Western classic song “Cool Water” to the masses during the 1940s. It chronicled the story of a parched man and his donkey in search of

It’s always difficult to discuss weather conditions and related responses when your canvas is the continental U.S., or even just a state. As this was written last week, some areas of the country

So far this summer, many Midwesterners have had to sit on the sidelines of saturated crop fields. An abundance of rainfall has delayed hay cuttings, and without a solid stretch of dry days, some farme

W.D. Hoard & Sons Company is pleased to announce that Amber Friedrichsen has been named managing editor of Hay & Forage Grower magazine and its various digital platforms, including eHay Weekly

Photo: Michigan State UniversityQuackgrass is one of those species that is accepted by some and rubs others the wrong way. Whatever side of the fence you are on, there is no denying that the so-called

Moving round bales out of a field and under cover may seem like one more item on the to-do list of a busy hay season, but rushing to complete this step may result in improper storage that can squander