The Midwest dairy farmer’s lament was to the point: “If I didn’t have to worry about winterkill, I’d definitely grow more alfalfa.”This farmer, like many others sitting at the meeting table...
Tall fescue is often lambasted for its palatability and toxicosis issues, but now is the time of year when you can take full advantage of one of the species’ most redeeming qualities — the ability...
There are a couple of things we know about the term “overgrazing.” First, it’s the most common mistake made regardless of grazing system. Second, it’s all about time.Time comes in two forms wh...
Annual ryegrass is one of those grasses that looks as good as it tastes. Livestock producers across the South heavily rely on annual ryegrass to feed cattle throughout the winter and early spring.“R...
Although there is still corn silage harvest and the final cuttings of alfalfa have yet to be packed away, preplanning for those winter cereal plantings needs to begin sooner rather than later.Cereal f...
Don Witt remembers his dad mowing hay with a 5-foot sickle bar mower and having a one-row, pull-type forage chopper that he used to do custom chopping for the neighbors...
Okay, it’s not exactly of the magnitude of the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, but the argument to cut hay exclusively in the late afternoon versus another time of day has always intrigued me...
There’s an old saying: “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.” It’s usually said of a person who has potential that has never been fulfilled. Perhaps no forage species deserves the bridesmaid moniker more so than red clover...
It’s always interesting to note the variation between regions and farms in regards to how much plant stalk remains in a field following a corn silage harvest. In California, I’ve seen fields cut s...
