The California dairy and alfalfa industries have been a largely successful, symbiotic duo for a very long time. However, the days of spreading alfalfa bales along a bunkline and feeding cows grain mix are long gone...

John GoeserForages bring a variety of different facets to dairy and beef diets. The physically effective fiber and energy values for forages are often the focal point with nutritionists...

What was once a minor curiosity has fully emerged as a major market for western U.S. hay products. Who could imagine a hay crop produced in Bakersfield would feed a cow in Beijing or Buraydah?...

What agronomic traits might the perfect alfalfa variety possess? The laundry list could get pretty long and may slightly vary between individuals, but I’m sure “high yielding” would be at or ne...

Experiencing the National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance’s (NAFA) Alfalfa Intensive Training Seminar (AITS) is like “drinking out of a fire hose; there is a lot of information in a short period of time...

Low-lignin forages are a hot topic in agriculture. With high digestibility and improved milk yield, it’s easy to understand why BMR (brown midrib) corn hybrids and reduced-lignin alfalfa varieties...

Throughout the United States, a lot of alfalfa is grown with grass. This is sometimes done by design, but other times it occurs unintentionally. In some areas, grass is very well adapted...

We have all seen the effects that weathering causes when hay is stored outside. Most of the deterioration is on the outer layer of the bale and particularly where it rests on the soil...

Summer and winter alfalfa are different in structure. The change occurs during the process of hardening in the fall to allow the alfalfa plant to survive colder temperatures...

As alfalfa producers look to new varieties with the promise of improved fiber digestibility, don’t forget about some of the basics that will allow for full economic returns.That’s the advice from...