The scenario is a common one: The cows aren’t eating a new batch of silage and performance is down. It may simply be a forage quality or moisture issue, or it may be “something else.” Finding th...

The tariffs imposed by China on U.S. alfalfa and grass hay imports to that country have already had a significant economic impact on hay growers and export companies. But that may just be the tip of t...

When the calendar turned to 2018, there was good reason to believe that hay demand would easily support production barring any sort of widespread weather calamity. This optimism was buoyed by a strong export market and, at long last, the prospect for higher milk prices.It’s the dairy economy and export markets that most often dictate hay prices in the West.“Demand picked up from some dairies in May as the milk-price projection was $16.00 per hundredweight and higher...

Bales Hay Sales in Buckeye, Ariz., is home to a constant flow of Phoenix-area customers looking to buy 95-pound, three-tie bales to fill their livestock needs. Many of their customers are local horse...

Sitting comfortably reclined in my living room and watching the Weather Channel on the evening of October 11, I couldn’t believe the devastation. Hurricane Michael had made landfall on the Florida P...

The onset of winter means digging into those stored forage inventories with the realization that any forage additions can only be accomplished in the form of outgoing cash.There are many good reasons...

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...

“If you still think relative feed value (RFV) is a good measure of forage quality, I’m not going to be able to help you today.” That was the opening disclaimer offered by Duarte Diaz, extension...

Many years ago, during my extension agent days, I got a phone call from a large dairy producer. The conversation went something like this:DP: “Mike, these seed salesmen are beating me up and I don�...

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 arme...