January 25, 2022
• Kansas State University Extension offers these tips for dealing with dead smooth bromegrass fields.
• Cattle and calves on feed for the U.S. slaughter market for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 animals or more totaled 12 million head on January 1, 1% above a year ago. Marketings of fed cattle during December totaled 1.86 million head, slightly above 2020.
• Nebraska and many other states experienced their warmest December on record.
• The National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance reminds forage producers that the crop insurance sign-up closing date for spring-seeded crops is March 15 in many states.
• Kuhns Manufacturing, North Bloomfield, Ohio, is changing its company name to Norden Manufacturing. The company makes several square bale handling products.
January 18, 2022
• Although many forage production metrics were down in 2021, USDA reports that U.S. sorghum silage production was up 63% compared to 2020 and was 26% above 2019. Acreage was up in all major sorghum silage-producing states except for South Dakota.
• The University of Florida offers these strategies to manage cost of production in pasture systems.
• This information from The Alliance for Grassland Renewal highlights the benefits of nontoxic endophytes to both tall fescue grass and the grazing animal.
• The National Alfalfa & Forage Association (NAFA) recently announced the availability of a new publication titled “Alfalfa Bermudagrass Management Guide.” Copies can be downloaded for free or purchased for $2 per copy.
• According to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, U.S. sales of tractors in 2021 were up 10.3% over the previous year. This occurred despite major logistical and production issues caused by the pandemic.
January 11, 2022
• According to USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, November alfalfa hay exports from the U.S. totaled 231,258 metric tons (MT), which is 23% greater than the previous year for the same month. Year-to-date alfalfa hay exports to all trade partners through November 2021 totaled over 2.6 million MT, which was 8% higher than during the same period in 2020.
• China imported 126,972 MT of alfalfa hay during last November, which was its lowest monthly total since January but was still nearly 50% more than November 2020. Year-to-date through November 2021, alfalfa hay exports to China are 37% ahead of the previous year.
• Utah State University Extension will be offering an evening Zoom workshop January 11 that will address strategies for dealing with high fertilizer prices. There is no cost to participate.
• Target this list of 2022 beef production management practices for improvement if profitability is the goal.
• John Deere recently introduced a fully autonomous tractor that is scheduled for mass production.
January 4, 2022
• Record December snowfalls in the Sierra Nevada Mountains was positive news for future reservoir levels in California. Statewide, the snowpack is 160% of average and water equivalents are equally as high.
• Sometimes, winter supplementation of beef calves doesn’t pay, according to this University of Nebraska Extension report. Again, it’s a forage quality thing.
• The University of Kentucky’s 2021 Long-term Summary of Forage Variety Trials is now available.
• Registration is currently open for the Midwest Forage Association’s Symposium 2022 in Wisconsin Dells, Wis.
• The Grassfed Exchange Conference has been rescheduled for May 18 to 20 in Fort Worth, Texas.
