The Year of the Great Inflation is how many people will remember 2022. Among the numerous things that inflated in 2022 was the price of nitrogen fertilizer. It seems every time the nitrogen price goes
Can soil really be considered healthy or unhealthy? Wouldn’t that require soil to be a living entity? How could this be if soil is made up of sand, silt, and clay particles and simply holds water
Dragging pastures is a spring ritual on many farms and ranches. Also known as harrowing or brushing in different localities, the process is meant to break up manure piles from the previous grazing sea
When I was about 5 years old, I desperately wanted to become a farmer like my grandfather and uncle. At that time, my family was living in the suburbs outside a large metropolitan area
Resiliency is the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. Weather occurrences such as drought are never welcomed, but there are proven strategies that will help cattle produc
Have you ever wondered why clay soils have such a good ability to absorb water? And yet, these same soils can become muddied and are prone to standing water in wheel tracks from vehicles traversing a
Alan Franzluebbers has been on a mission to better quantify the need for nitrogen in pasture systems. “If you have no nitrogen, then you have no yield,” said the USDA-ARS research scientist,
Photo: Emma Cotton/VTDiggerScott and Amber Hoyt operate an organic dairy farm in Vermont. Their recent experience provides a warning for others.In reading the January 25 issue of Hoard’s Dairy
Pastures are often the least-cost option for ruminant livestock production. In much of the Northeast, pasture and aftermath-grazed hay meadows are the largest portion of the agricultural acreage. Univ
Water flows downward according to gravity. If there is a hole in the bottom of a bucket, water drains out due to the pull of gravity. Without soil, a forage plant could potentially grow in a bucket wi
Interest in controlled grazing strategies have grown in recent years. This has largely been due to higher input costs. The promise of growing more grass with fewer inputs is intriguing, and some would
I grew up with conventional farming. Way back in the 1970s, most folks in farming thought that if you took a soil sample and applied the recommended amount of fertilizer, you were doing a good job of
Drought has affected wide swaths of the United States recently. For much of 2022, a large area of Missouri faced severe drought, and cattle producers are feeling the effects on their businesses
It’s not an unusual situation for people to suddenly find themselves as the not-so-proud owner or long-term renter of a previously abused or neglected pasture. In such situations, questions often
A myth can be defined in several ways, but it is often thought to be something that has been repeatedly stated over a period of years such that it becomes accepted truth when, in fact, it
We've reached the time of crisp fall mornings, and the grass is green all around — well, as long as it’s been raining in your neck of the woods! Throughout much of the eastern U.S., cool-season
Although we’re heading into the winter months, looking ahead to spring and being prepared to ward off potential pasture problems is something that should be on every producer’s mind
Making hay is an expensive process these days. Harvest costs are up because of the current high cost of diesel fuel, labor, equipment repairs, and machinery costs
Winter annual forages are a valued feed source across the United States, but this year they will offer extra benefits to those areas that have been stricken with drought
