World Dairy Expo is known as the meeting place for the global dairy industry. It’s also an event for haymakers from across the country to come together and learn about the latest equipment, test

How does your brain work? Are you of the analytical ilk or are you more of a creative thinker? Do you articulate your thoughts in words or would you rather work with numbers? Temple Grandin, for

For much of the U.S., frost is within a page turn of the calendar. That means the prussic acid poisoning alarm for sorghum-related species will promptly be sounded. In the near future, however, there

To cut, or not to cut. That is the question Hamlet would ask if only he were a forage producer and not a Shakespeare character. More specifically, the question would be to give alfalfa a longer rest a

What comes to mind when you think about the fall of 2021? Is it the incredibly high fertilizer prices that more than doubled year-over-year? Or maybe it’s extremely sluggish supply chains for parts

We hear a lot about “value-added” these days. When margins are tight, farmers figure out ways to get more money from the same raw product. Often, that involves skipping the middle man and realizin

Producers play many roles during the hay season, and meteorologist is often one of them

Net wrap and baler twine configured out of plastic as thin as five-thousandths of an inch thick can hold the shape and support the weight of bales well over 1,000 pounds

When it’s time to harvest alfalfa for silage or hay, we are usually concerned about getting the crop cut at the right time, hitting weather windows for good drying conditions, and removing the crop

Alfalfa has been termed the “Queen of Forages.” Unfortunately, her highness is a fickle ruler

Although the USDA has Hay Quality Designation Guidelines (see tables) based on nutrition tests for alfalfa, that alone does not cover all of the terms and grades we use to describe hay. Many of the terms

Growing concern has been that many farmers lose too many leaves during the harvesting process

Technology is evolving faster than ever before, and farming technology is no exception

Weighing the costs and benefits of an opportunity can be the first step in the decision-making process. Farmers know both sides of this scale hang heavy when that decision pertains to agricultur

There are many routes to high-yielding alfalfa, but few of them don’t go down the potassium road. I was reminded of this after reading a recently published five-year study in Agronomy Journal that

Adding a farm enterprise is often a complicated and hand-wringing exercise in decision making. But every once in a while, the stars align and an additional enterprise just makes perfect sense with lit

For haymakers, natural rainfall can be the devil or the savior. It’s needed and then not needed. Raindrops on the roof can make us sleep better or not sleep at all. A haymaker’s life is spent

It seems many people in the farming and ranching communities are still having a hard time coming to terms with the concept of climate change and what role human beings might play in this process

In the Midwest, over the last two decades, both June and September have shown a trend toward warmer average monthly temperatures

Dealing with an honest broker who is well-versed in the market can have many advantages that can save a farmer or customer time, resources, and money