Forage research from universities and seed companies fuels advancements in the alfalfa industry. This research also lays the foundation for many producer recommendations, but scientific experime

Whether you are adjusting soil pH for a new alfalfa seeding, adding maintenance fertilizer to a mixed stand, or giving an old pasture a boost of nutrients, getting a soil test is probably on the to-do

Water bodies not subject to external forces remain calm and level. This is true of a lake or mud puddle; however, when impacted by forces such as wind, the normally quiescent waters become rough

Cows don’t necessarily need alfalfa or corn silage — they need energy, fiber, and protein. Forages with greater concentrations of these nutrients are ultimately more valuable to animals; however

It's the new “sexy” forage, also known as the cocktail mix; it’s mysterious, unknown, and risky

Thanks to research from Bill Weiss and Norm St-Pierre at The Ohio State University, we have a concrete understanding of the factors that contribute variance to feed sampling

To juice up the field day agenda I was attending, the organizers planned a round bale guessing game contest. One bale looked pretty normal while another was slumping worse than the Oakland Athle

With corn silage harvest underway — or almost underway — on many farms, crop fields will soon be ready to with seed winter forage. Wheat and rye are common cereal grains planted after corn

Really dry or really wet — it doesn’t matter because both conditions can be lethal to new spring alfalfa seedings. Depending on where you hang your hat, weather extremes on either end of the

The critical fall period for alfalfa has been said to start roughly six weeks before the first killing frost, which is roughly around the first week of September for most of the Midwest. This hard sto

As I sit here in the Bozeman, Mont., airport waiting for the Boeing 737 with my name attached to it, I’m pondering the fact that once again orchardgrass has been a big part of this trip. Both the

Enduring a drought is depleting for forages as well as farmers. Not only did the lack of rainfall through mid-summer limit yield and quality in hayfields across the country, but the dry weather has le

With the turning of the calendar to August next week, the window opens for Northern regions to begin seeding alfalfa and alfalfa-grass mixtures. That window progresses to later dates as we move south

In many cases, alfalfa tends to take the cake when it comes to a farmer’s favorite forage

Dry weather — to varying degrees — has beset a large swath of the U.S. during the beginning of the 2023 haymaking season. In the Midwest, I have never seen so much first-cutting hay get baled

Source: U.S. Drought MonitorThe abundant rain and snowfall in the West put a temporary Band-Aid on many areas that were either devoid of moisture or had their irrigation spigots shut off

It’s a guarantee that cool-season grass pastures will take a break this summer when hot, dry conditions set in

The first “Alfalfa Conference,” which was later to become the North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference, took place in Washington D.C. on January 13, 1930

Every state has their recommended seeding date range for establishing cool-season forage species in the spring

Alfalfa hay can be used in rations for pregnant and nonlactating dairy cows without necessarily causing metabolic diseases such as clinical hypocalcemia — also called milk fever. That’s the