Amber Friedrichsen, Managing Editor
Amber Friedrichsen

The author is the managing editor for Hay & Forage Grower. Amber Friedrichsen joined the Hay & Forage Grower staff as an associate editor in May 2023. As of July 2024, she has assumed the role of managing editor. Friedrichsen also served as the editorial intern in 2021 and 2022. She graduated from Iowa State University in May 2023 with a double major in agricultural communication and agronomy. Friedrichsen grew up and worked on her family’s diversified crop and livestock farm in eastern Iowa near Clinton.

Spring-seeded alfalfa do’s and don’ts
Alfalfa

April 8, 2025
BY Amber Friedrichsen, Managing Editor
Trade-offs already exist between spring seedings and late summer seedings before planting management is added to the mix. The latter time frame often boasts more favorable weather and field conditions...
Don’t jump the grazing gun
Forage Flash

April 8, 2025
BY Amber Friedrichsen, Managing Editor
Managing the spring flush of forage growth often involves flirting with the fine line between grazing too early and being swallowed by the surplus. As cool-season grasses start to green up, it may be...
Have you tried growing teff?
Grasses

April 1, 2025
BY Amber Friedrichsen, Managing Editor
Teffgrass is like the utility player on the baseball roster of forage species. The fast-growing warm-season annual is a good candidate for emergency forage when grazing livestock are short on feed. It...
Get cracking on storage inspections
Forage Flash

April 1, 2025
BY Amber Friedrichsen, Managing Editor
If spring green up isn’t sign enough, an echo ringing off the wall of an empty bunker silo should indicate another forage harvest season is fast approaching...
This Granite State dairy looks rock solid
Farm Visits

March 31, 2025
BY Amber Friedrichsen, Managing Editor
When John and Beth Haynes bought the family dairy from his parents in 1981, they probably didn’t anticipate that four decades later a pink and orange Dunkin’ Donuts sign would be within eyeshot of the milking barn...
Lock in on spring nitrogen
Forage Flash

March 25, 2025
BY Amber Friedrichsen, Managing Editor
Nitrogen fertilization may be furthest thing from a one-size-fits-all situation. The nutrient required for plant growth and protein synthesis is a critical factor of forage production, but its m...
Give your bales a good look
Forage Flash

March 25, 2025
BY Amber Friedrichsen, Managing Editor
Although forage quality can be objectively defined by the results of a hay test, it sometimes takes on a more subjective connotation influenced by farmer standards for hay appearance, texture, or even...
Alfalfa qualifies for conservation payments
Alfalfa

March 24, 2025
BY Amber Friedrichsen, Managing Editor
The National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance (NAFA) announced last month that alfalfa will now be included as a short-term perennial option in the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) 328 Practice for Conservation Crop Rotation...
An alfalfa weevil wake-up call
Alfalfa

March 18, 2025
BY Amber Friedrichsen, Managing Editor
Almost every phone call home turns into an extensive update of the goings-on at my family’s farm. The latest conversation with my dad about the approaching planting season, for example, landed...
Grazing heifers are the new cash cows
Forage Flash

March 18, 2025
BY Amber Friedrichsen, Managing Editor
Raising replacement heifers can be costly for a dairy farm, with feed costs for these animals typically comprising the biggest chunk of that expense. One solution is to let heifers harvest forage them...
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