Once you talk and listen to Tom Kestell, it won’t be something you’ll soon forget. His years of feeding a herd of dairy cows that now annually averages over 45,000 pounds of milk per cow have

Like stepping into a perfect picture, the herd of Holsteins grazed peacefully out on the pasture. A stone-based barn stood as the farmstead centerpiece

Butch Lay and his wife, Lisa, are survivors. In addition to survival skills, Butch is also an experimenter, a person who is not afraid to make a wrong decision, and someone who values feed and forage

There are some people you meet in life whom you’ll never forget, nor do you ever want to. For me, count Ted and Patsy Hughes in that category

Webster defines the word unique as “being without a like or equal.”

Scott Barao oversees Hedgeapple Farm, which markets beef from about 150 grass-fed and finished head per year. Profitability and environmental stewardship drive the farm’s operational model

The 2009 NCBA president is passionate about his cattle, pastures, and the environment

Andy Stock believes many farmers could do a better job of planning the long-term future of their businesses

I meet a lot of people at forage meetings during the course of a year. Never has anyone broached the subject of sericea lespedeza . . . that’s until I met Reed Edwards at a Georgia hay conference

Perhaps no flowering legume catches the eye more than crimson clover. Native to southern Europe, farmers and ranchers in the southern United States noted its value as a green manure and grazing crop by

We’re different in every respect.” The phrase seemed only fitting coming from Steve Carr, owner of 3D Valley Farms in Depauw, Ind., as he tended to the draft horse team he still uses around

The Huffman Farms’ custom harvesting crew prepares to chop a field for a local dairy farm. Johan Brink (back row) manages the custom enterprise. South African H-2A employees are the backbone of the

In most years, there are always farms and ranches that find themselves in the middle of a severe drought, while others are saddled with an extended period of relentless rain

Perhaps no flowering legume catches the eye more than crimson clover. Native to southern Europe, farmers and ranchers in the southern U.S. noted its value as a green manure and grazing crop

Long-time nutritionist Steve Woodford (left) and Tom Kestell regularly discuss forage quality tests and associated ration adjustments for Kestell’s high-producing dairy herd

Pasture-finished beef is becoming more popular among consumers. However, finishing beef solely on pasture grasses with no grains requires a very aggressive level of pasture management throughout

Dairy farmers who grow their own forages should focus on diversity. Throughout the eastern United States, perennial grasses such as orchardgrass, timothy, reed canarygrass, and fescue are common

Geralds likes to bale his alfalfa- orchardgrass fields between 12 and 15 percent moisture. Each of his six balers is equipped with a moisture tester

Ron Tombaugh’s entrepreneurial nature helped him successfully integrate a haying and trucking business. In Streator, Ill., the epicenter of corn and soybean country, Tombaugh bought his first round

The author is the Hay & Forage Grower editorial intern and a student at South Dakota State University. Ed Ballard has been managing the Dudley Smith Farm since its establishment in 1995