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 of a...
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...
I wonder what Ed Nolt is thinking these days. Many people argue that the small square bale is all but a history lesson . . . but is it?Nolt, a Pennsylvania Dutchman, invented the prototype for t...
Heard about reduced lignin alfalfa? Wondered if it can play a role on your farm? Redesigned to increase digestibility by 12-15 percent, HarvXtra™ alfalfa with Roundup Ready® Technology allows...
Alfalfa enhanced with the transgenic, reduced-lignin trait being marketed as HarvXtra was made available in limited supplies for spring 2016 planting. In 2017, at least 10 seed marketers will offer Ha...
The thought of alfalfa being traded on the futures market is a concept that probably scares a lot of hay growers and marketers. After all, supply, demand, quality, and good old-fashioned one-on-one ne...
Cutting alfalfa after temperatures have reached the point that regrowth will no longer occur makes for a different discussion than cutting during the period of four to six weeks before first frost. In...
With the opening weekend of the college football season now behind us, alfalfa breaks out a new game plan of its own — one of conservative offense and a tough defense.As temperatures cool, alf...
In virtually all walks of life, we’ve become a society that wants information and wants it now. Waiting is often an option only if there are no other alternatives. Farmers are no different.Last fall...