Back in the day, I would constantly correct people when they referred to a “fall seeding” of alfalfa. Fall is simply too late; more correctly, it was, or at least should be in the North, a
It was actually a sulfur study. I was at Joe’s farm to gather some alfalfa tissue and soil samples from one of his fields as part of a statewide assessment on sulfur fertility. What with fewer indus
According to data that was recently released by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), there are roughly 1.8 million dairy cows in California
While alfalfa fields in the South are being cut, some for a second time, those in the North are just waking from winter slumber . . . or at least we hope they are
Herbicide-tolerant crops have been widely adopted across production agriculture. Over 90% of canola, sugar beet, soybean, cotton, and corn crops in the U.S. are herbicide tolerant
There are many methods used by growers to determine when and how much to irrigate forages. Some decide to turn the water on after handling a shovel-full of soil
Whether you are in the business of growing and selling forages or feeding cattle, correctly assigning the economic value of forages can impact profitability
What makes alfalfa such an interesting crop to study and try to understand is what also makes it so frustrating.I quit trying to predict alfalfa winterkill years ago
Whether you are in the business of growing and selling forages or feeding cattle, correctly assigning the economic value of forages can impact profitability
Craig Sheaffer has worked with alfalfa his entire academic career. The University of Minnesota researcher can reel off a bevy of advantages that alfalfa adds to a farm’s cropping and feeding systems
It’s here. No, I’m not talking about the traditional holiday season. Rather, I’m referring to the epicenter of the seed-buying season. Let’s face it, late-year seed purchases help
Water does not contribute to your forage economic value when balancing diets or pricing forage. Instead, the water is dried off, and it’s the grams (g) of nutrients and minerals per 100 g of total
If you grow alfalfa, and if you grow corn for silage or grain, not taking advantage of the nitrogen provided by a terminated alfalfa crop is like flipping dollar bills into the toilet.Apparently, this
Alfalfa has been identified as one of the crops that is eligible for government payments to farmers as a result of the retaliatory tariffs imposed by China on agricultural crops — alfalfa hay among
Four years. That’s how long the HarvXtra trait has been in the alfalfa grower’s toolbox and likewise growing in farm fields. I know of at least one farmer who has 1,200 acres of HarvXtra alfalfa
Alfalfa has long been a staple forage across most of United States. That “most” could be changed to “all” if not for the Southeastern states where alfalfa has historically been
Wherever I traveled this summer, a common theme was that the spring and early summer were extremely wet. This caused problems getting any high-quality hay made, but it also was problematic from the st
After working and agonizing to keep alfalfa stands productive for multiple years, producers know the time will come when all fields must be terminated in a Rambo-like manner. The term “p