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,

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

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

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

Landing in Milwaukee last Friday after a week in California at the World Ag Expo, I had the usual February expectation of frigid air and perhaps blowing snow. That’s the Upper Midwest norm.Instead

Yield versus quality: What is more important? Which is easier to comprehend? When interacting and facilitating discussions during forage planning meetings, the conversations regarding yield

For the moment, let’s put harvest timing aside, though it plays a primary role in harvested forage quality. We’ll also leave alfalfa genetics on the sideline, reduced lignin or not

Here’s the thing about biological systems: stuff happens.Such was the case for Steve Orloff in the spring of 2014. The extension farm advisor in Siskiyou County, Calif., was on a farm to troubleshoo

Breeder seed is early-generation seed produced from a polycross of multiple parent plants, creating an experimental cultivar. Breeder seed production is typically done in a greenhouse

Soil and plant potassium (K) levels have frequently come up at meetings and in conversations with concern for declining soil K levels in the Northeast

Plant breeders have been very successful at improving the yield of corn, soybeans, and most other crops

We’re so accustomed to driving over alfalfa when harvesting that we sometimes forget about the potential damage being done to the stand by wheel traffic

This year has been a year to remember for Western alfalfa producers — or quite possibly one that many would prefer to forget. Record-high hay prices in 2014 slid significantly in 2015, and now

It was difficult to attend a forage meeting in the past 12 months that didn’t have reduced-lignin alfalfa somewhere on the agenda. The HarvXtra trait is the second transgenic offering to alfalfa

In this Wisconsin selection nursery, some individual plants thrived, while others succumbed over time.The perennial forage plant commonly known as alfalfa in the Americas, alfa-alfa in the Middle East

You’ve read before in this space about my opinions regarding the current USDA market hay grades and why using them is the equivalent of calling your neighbor on a party line rotary-dial phone.There�

It’s often said that drastic times are cause for drastic measures. So what do you do when hay prices reach levels not seen in many years and you’re in the business of selling hay? That was

We’ve again reached that time of year when a visit from the local co-op agronomist usually has nothing to do with checking the growing crop. Rather, he or she comes calling bearing gifts of new seed

It’s Election Day — so what better time to address a forage topic that is wrought with opinion, controversy, and conflict.Through my years as an extension agent and now as the managing editor

Alfalfa is frequently described as a crop that is not tolerant of wet soils. In the early 1900s, researchers described root rots of alfalfa that were attributed to wet soils or a high water table