Feb. 5 2019 Among the many presentations and posters offered at the American Forage & Grassland Council’s Conference last month, one that captured my attention like an activated home fire alarm was a Univer
Jan. 29 2019 Generally speaking, trends in the forage industry develop at a sluggish pace. There are probably good reasons for this lack of alacrity. It takes time for technologies to develop and even more time fo
Jan. 22 2019 “We knew we were in trouble. There was nothing to feed the cows.”That was how cattleman Buron Lanier, Burgaw, N.C., described his feelings after the floodwaters of Hurricane Florence, which...
Jan. 16 2019 I was wrapping up a day of farm visits in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina when my host asked, “Where are you staying tonight?” “Sylva,” I responded
Jan. 15 2019 Let’s be honest: Some grazing practices are better than others when it comes to impacting the bottom line. However, there isn’t always universal agreement as to which practices should hold...
Jan. 14 2019 California’s Central Valley is a massive expanse of agricultural production. The sheer size of the valley is only matched by the variety of commodities produced
Jan. 8 2019 Fertilizer is and has always been a significant production expense whether you are growing corn, alfalfa, or pasture forage. Like humans, plants need nutrients for maintenance and growth, and there’
Dec. 26 2018 Like the kid who everyone ridiculed as a child and then transformed into that class’ “Most Likely to Succeed” upon high school graduation, crabgrass has at long last found its rightful...
Dec. 18 2018 It’s understandable why the U.S. Naval Academy is located near the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Annapolis, Md. But also near those same shores, on the other side of the bay, is a herd...
Dec. 11 2018 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.”
Dec. 4 2018 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
Nov. 27 2018 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...
Nov. 23 2018 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
Nov. 23 2018 If you’re like me, there’s still a good part of each day that is spent thinking. Just the other day, I was thinking about how many great ideas humanity has lost because, rather than thinking,...
Nov. 20 2018 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...
Nov. 20 2018 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
Nov. 13 2018 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...
Oct. 30 2018 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�
Oct. 23 2018 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...
