The beauty and curse of a biological system is that we always play the averages and probabilities because very few things happen 100 percent of the time. For any given question there are...

For those in areas of the country where winter actually exists — real snow with drivable lakes — you’ve been looking at brown or white alfalfa fields for several months. All of that is about to change . . . hopefully. It’s that time of year when the sight of new, green alfalfa shoots is as welcomed as the Publisher’s Clearinghouse people on the front doorstep. Conversely, there is also the other scenario when green is nowhere to be found and reality sets...

There are a lot of opinions about applying manure to established alfalfa; okay, maybe there are really just two: yea or nay. We’ll save established alfalfa for another day...

Versatility is always a commendable attribute and Texas A&M University’s Russ Jessup is developing a new grass plant that can be used for both forage or as a biofuel...

Wheel-line irrigation system. Moisture stress to alfalfa regrowing after a cutting has the greatest impact on yield...

Growing forage legumes in the southeastern U.S. can be challenging. The combination of warm weather, high moisture and sandy soils provide a perfect environment for a variety of crop pests and disease...

Alfalfa is the most widely used perennial forage in the U.S. due to its high digestibility, its ability to fix nitrogen, and its high protein content...

The 2015 hay and haylage crop is in storage and being fed, with many producers asking how their crops stack up, no pun intended. Determining a single crop’s quality can be a tricky task...

Though there is no scientific survey that documents the rising popularity of baled silage, an excursion down rural roads tells us that more and more forage is being harvested in this manner...

The author is a dairy scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Alfalfa producers will have a couple of new options to consider in the upcoming growing season. Low-lignin alfalfas are being to...