Rapidly drying hay and forage to the desired moisture for safe conservation is both challenging and frustrating

Current hay and forage inventories are approaching their annual low

IT SEEMS pretty straightforward. In the West, we irrigate pastures; in the East, we don’t. In the East, it rains frequently, and in the West, it doesn’t. Plain as black and white

Nighttime temperatures last week were low enough to frost or freeze alfalfa plants across a large swath of the United States

A critical component of profitable alfalfa production is the need to establish a dense, vigorous stand

I’ve been waiting patiently for the inevitable to happen — for the word “hay” to morph into the word “haye,” or something similar

When our little Jack Russell Terrier needs an outdoor potty break, he jumps up on a bench in our living room and rattles the window blinds with his nose

Hay prices were up across the board during February, according to USDA’s Agricultural Prices report. The average price of U.S. alfalfa hay in February climbed for the third consecutive month

Dealing with rain is just part of the deal if you’re a haymaker in the humid East. Even in an average year, working around raindrops is a challenge, but in a wet year, the frustration can exceed

Warm, sunny days after a long dose of winter weather can make it tempting to turn cattle out on the greening new grass. However, cattle turned out too early in the spring can lead to several issues

It was a long run of soft commodity prices, but the stagnant situation of recent years came to an abrupt halt during the back half of 2020 as corn and soybean prices skyrocketed to levels not seen sin

It’s been known for a long time that seeding alfalfa into or immediately after a terminated alfalfa stand doesn’t often yield good results. But that’s about all we know

There are about 200,000 alfalfa seeds in a pound. That’s also the number of opinions there are for successfully establishing alfalfa or grasses

Making quality hay is not for the weak of heart. In the arid West, there’s the challenge of baling with enough moisture in the final product

Forage quality test results can tell us a lot about a forage. However, we also need to consider aspects that could impact hay during storage

Restricting the amount of water that a crop needs is not an ideal strategy to produce forages. Sometimes, however, it’s necessary

Alfalfa hay has long been a premier forage for dairy cattle

Similar to that 30-year-old tattoo of an ex-girlfriend’s name that seemed like a good idea at the time, some things just hang around beyond their useful life.The forage industry has several of these

Prudent farm managers generally don’t blindly cut expenses during challenging economic times; rather, they look for those places where eliminating costs will have little or no impact on crop yield

Seeding grass along with alfalfa has always been standard operating procedure in some areas of the U.S., including the Northeast. Although it’s less common to see in other regions, the popularity