April 30, 2017
The author is the technical service manager for Calibrate Technologies. It’s harvest season and high-quality alfalfa is at the top of your mind...


April 30, 2017
A common practice for many producers during the fall is to look for the cheapest protein and energy supplements to go along with their hay for winter feeding...


April 30, 2017
Bermudagrass varieties fall into two main groups: selections of common bermudagrass that can be planted from seed and hybrid bermudagrass that must be propagated by vegetative means...


April 28, 2017
In prior Hay & Forage Grower articles, we covered alfalfa variety breeding and characterization, the progression from breeder seed through foundation to commercial seed, and some basics of a...


April 25, 2017
Cows aren’t the only creatures that like to eat alfalfa; count alfalfa weevils in that group as well.Entomologists across the U.S. are either filing reports of already severe alfalfa damage from wee...


April 18, 2017
Here we go — the start of another growing season. In some areas of the U.S., the initial cutting of alfalfa is underway; for others, it is near, while some are just starting to watch the first signs of growing plants.The initial spring cutting of alfalfa can make or break a harvest season. It’s a fascinating study of how forage quality can change ever so quickly, or how it may change at a tortoise-like pace.Why?No cutting of alfalfa grows under the environmental...


April 11, 2017
It’s that time of year when some hay, livestock, and dairy producers will seek available hayfields to bolster their own forage supplies.When you sit in an extension office as I did for 27 years, the...


March 30, 2017
In the two previous issues of Hay & Forage Grower, we discussed the breeding and development of alfalfa cultivars along with seed field production...


March 28, 2017
When ordering pizza, I’m partial to mushrooms ... and only mushrooms.Don’t try to complicate the issue with the likes of pepperoni, sausage, pineapple, peppers, onions, or any other item on the ne...


March 14, 2017
There was a day when spring-seeded alfalfa and an oat (or other small grain) companion crop went hand in hand. Though maybe not to the extent of the rotary phone, companion crops are now much le...