Although growers in the West and the South are well underway with this year’s alfalfa harvest, those in the Northern half of the U.S. are still greasing their mowers

The rising value of protein over the last 10 months should cause dairy producers and dairy nutritionists to reconsider the value of alfalfa hay and silage in dairy rations

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alfalfa is the third highest revenue crop in the U.S., behind corn and soybeans, but ahead of wheat, rice, and cotton

Growing up on a row crop farm in Mississippi, the only experience I had with hay or forages was pitching small square bales onto a trailer. We baled a couple dozen acres of grass hay for the goat herd

Winter, spring, summer or fallAll you have to do is callAnd I'll be there, yes, I will.You've got a friendThese lyrics from a 1971 song by Carole King remind us that we all need a friend. The same i

The alfalfa seed industry has gone through a massive makeover in the past 20 years. There are significantly fewer seed marketers, breeding programs, and the number of university testing trials is down

The problem is easy to identify, and so are the plant symptoms. The answers are often less apparent.There’s no need for a magnifying glass to see that large equipment, driving across alfalfa fields

The Midwest dairy farmer’s lament was to the point: “If I didn’t have to worry about winterkill, I’d definitely grow more alfalfa.”This farmer, like many others sitting at