Dry cows on a dairy farm remind me of Larry. They have no real obligations in life except to eat, drink, and take a nap. They are on a vacation from their normal vocation
Making dry hay isn’t easy, especially in the humid regions. For many who choose this line of work, selling hay can be equally as challenging.Whenever I visit a hay farm — and there’s
World Dairy Expo is known as the meeting place for the global dairy industry. It’s also an event for haymakers from across the country to come together and learn about the latest equipment, test
How does your brain work? Are you of the analytical ilk or are you more of a creative thinker? Do you articulate your thoughts in words or would you rather work with numbers? Temple Grandin, for
For much of the U.S., frost is within a page turn of the calendar. That means the prussic acid poisoning alarm for sorghum-related species will promptly be sounded. In the near future, however, there
To cut, or not to cut. That is the question Hamlet would ask if only he were a forage producer and not a Shakespeare character. More specifically, the question would be to give alfalfa a longer rest a
What comes to mind when you think about the fall of 2021? Is it the incredibly high fertilizer prices that more than doubled year-over-year? Or maybe it’s extremely sluggish supply chains for parts
We hear a lot about “value-added” these days. When margins are tight, farmers figure out ways to get more money from the same raw product. Often, that involves skipping the middle man and realizin
Net wrap and baler twine configured out of plastic as thin as five-thousandths of an inch thick can hold the shape and support the weight of bales well over 1,000 pounds
When it’s time to harvest alfalfa for silage or hay, we are usually concerned about getting the crop cut at the right time, hitting weather windows for good drying conditions, and removing the crop
Although the USDA has Hay Quality Designation Guidelines (see tables) based on nutrition tests for alfalfa, that alone does not cover all of the terms and grades we use to describe hay. Many of the terms
Weighing the costs and benefits of an opportunity can be the first step in the decision-making process. Farmers know both sides of this scale hang heavy when that decision pertains to agricultur