Cows aren’t the only creatures that like to eat alfalfa; count alfalfa weevils in that group as well.Entomologists across the U.S. are either filing reports of already severe alfalfa damage from wee...

Here we go — the start of another growing season. In some areas of the U.S., the initial cutting of alfalfa is underway; for others, it is near, while some are just starting to watch the first signs of growing plants.The initial spring cutting of alfalfa can make or break a harvest season. It’s a fascinating study of how forage quality can change ever so quickly, or how it may change at a tortoise-like pace.Why?No cutting of alfalfa grows under the environmental...

It’s that time of year when some hay, livestock, and dairy producers will seek available hayfields to bolster their own forage supplies.When you sit in an extension office as I did for 27 years, the...

In the two previous issues of Hay & Forage Grower, we discussed the breeding and development of alfalfa cultivars along with seed field production...

When ordering pizza, I’m partial to mushrooms ... and only mushrooms.Don’t try to complicate the issue with the likes of pepperoni, sausage, pineapple, peppers, onions, or any other item on the ne...

There was a day when spring-seeded alfalfa and an oat (or other small grain) companion crop went hand in hand. Though maybe not to the extent of the rotary phone, companion crops are now much le...

Landing in Milwaukee last Friday after a week in California at the World Ag Expo, I had the usual February expectation of frigid air and perhaps blowing snow. That’s the Upper Midwest norm.Instead...

Yield versus quality: What is more important? Which is easier to comprehend? When interacting and facilitating discussions during forage planning meetings, the conversations regarding yield...

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...