As Midwestern corn-grain prices rise, so will Western alfalfa-hay demand and prices, says Seth Hoyt, market analyst and author of The Hoyt Report, a hay-market newsletter....More
Moving heavily into commercial hay production instead of corn and soybeans looks like a mistake today, Sherman Schuler admits. But he’s convinced that prices of the other crops will drop sharply within two or three years, and high-quality hay will still bring good money....More
The Newman family of Monteview, ID, added more than 800 acres of irrigated alfalfa this year, returning to full production of the crop that has been their No. 1 moneymaker for decades....More
Drought has cut a devastating swath across the U.S., slowing hay growth to a near standstill, burning up pastures and severely stunting cornfields....More
Producers who keep their heads in the game can help their pastures compete with drought and its aftereffects, says John Jennings. This University of Arkansas Extension forage specialist, whose entire state is in drought, offers winning strategies for dealing with and recovering from it....More
A new, self-propelled 37’5” hay mower utilizes three front-mounted mowing units that form nearly identical, GPS-correct wide swaths. That lets Brent Maust, the commercial hay grower who inspired the machine, rake them precisely onto gaps of dry ground and produce uniformly dry hay....More
Feedstox’s purchase of two combine-balers completed a fleet of state-of-the-art equipment that the non-profit company assembled for harvesting biomass from corn, wheat, switchgrass, miscanthus and other crops....More
A growing number of consumers are “hungry to know where their food comes from,” says Rod Ofte. More than that, they want to know that it comes from animals fed healthily and treated humanely. The trend has led him – and many others – to go for Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) certification....More
Last year, Irvin Yeager, Dighton, KS, chopped and ensiled a field of wild annual kochia that survived in his drought-prone region of the High Plains. When hay supplies got tight, he fed it to 2,000 head of beef cattle....More
While some may still head to coffee shops for good conversation, Bill Rowekamp communicates through a moderated Twitter discussion called AgChat....More
Alfalfa mixed with tall fescue or orchardgrass produced significantly higher dry-matter yields than alfalfa alone at two Minnesota locations in a 2011 study....More
Feed intake of steers fed tall fescue hay in a University of Kentucky experiment increased when moderate amounts of dried corn ethanol distillers grains were added to their diets....More
Growing normal and brown midrib (BMR) corn hybrids together produced silage with a chemical composition almost comparable to pure BMR silage. When fed to cows the mixture resulted in greater feed efficiency and lower milk MUN than normal silage....More
Beef heifers can be supplemented with perennial peanut hay instead of corn and soybean meal with no adverse impact on growth or reproduction, University of Florida scientists concluded....More
Co-grazing goats and cow-calf pairs on rangeland infested with sericea lespedeza increased grazing pressure on the weed without affecting performance of the beef animals or the amount of residual grass....More
“What was the best investment you’ve ever made in your grazing system?” Ask experienced graziers that question and there’s a good chance their answers will have to do with their livestock water systems. But what are their reasons?...More
Hay prices increased dramatically in much of the country in recent weeks, leaving year-ago levels in the dust of the expanding drought. Demand has been high, but sales activity low due to short supplies and high prices....More
