March 15, 2019
What was once a minor curiosity has fully emerged as a major market for western U.S. hay products. Who could imagine a hay crop produced in Bakersfield would feed a cow in Beijing or Buraydah?...


March 12, 2019
What agronomic traits might the perfect alfalfa variety possess? The laundry list could get pretty long and may slightly vary between individuals, but I’m sure “high yielding” would be at or ne...


March 5, 2019
Let’s get beyond the discussion whether storing hay in a barn versus outside on the ground is a paying proposition. It is.Instead, let’s focus on building the right hay barn for your needs...


Jan. 15, 2019
Experiencing the National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance’s (NAFA) Alfalfa Intensive Training Seminar (AITS) is like “drinking out of a fire hose; there is a lot of information in a short period of time...


Jan. 8, 2019
Fertilizer is and has always been a significant production expense whether you are growing corn, alfalfa, or pasture forage. Like humans, plants need nutrients for maintenance and growth, and there’...


Jan. 2, 2019
It’s January. Are you feeding hay or are the cows still out on stockpiled pastures? Perhaps both resources are being utilized.Making hay has become a dirty word in many grazing circles, yet the...


Nov. 27, 2018
Low-lignin forages are a hot topic in agriculture. With high digestibility and improved milk yield, it’s easy to understand why BMR (brown midrib) corn hybrids and reduced-lignin alfalfa varieties...


Nov. 26, 2018
Throughout the United States, a lot of alfalfa is grown with grass. This is sometimes done by design, but other times it occurs unintentionally. In some areas, grass is very well adapted...


Nov. 26, 2018
When I began my career as an extension agent in 1977, there was not a round baler in my county...


Nov. 20, 2018
Sitting comfortably reclined in my living room and watching the Weather Channel on the evening of October 11, I couldn’t believe the devastation. Hurricane Michael had made landfall on the Florida P...