When the summer sun sets over northwest Illinois, the crew members of Silver Streak Ag Services LLC cut their engines and climb down from their tractor cabs. Their job might not be done — in fact, it may have just been getting started — but they submit to their growling stomachs and pause for a paper plate meal in the middle of the field. This is a nightly tradition for John and Monica Osterhaus, owners of the custom forage harvesting business near Chadwick, Ill...

In areas where temperatures are hovering around the freezing point, alfalfa heaving may become a prominent issue. This uprooting of plants as a result of repeated freezing and thawing cycles may be an...

Concerns and documented cases of wheat pasture bloat are starting to swell as fields of wheat and small grains green up in the Southern Plains. This disease, also known as frothy bloat, causes excessi...

Energy level and crude protein content tend to be the primary forage quality characteristics producers refer to when feeding livestock; however, forage fragility is another key factor to consider when...

Whether it’s frozen water tanks, slick driveways, or frosted windshields, ice can instigate a number of problems on farms in the winter. While some of these problems are simply solved wh...

Hay inventories are dwindling across the country, but they are especially low in Texas. In fact, farmers in the Lone Star State are currently facing a historic hay shortage. According to th...

Even if the skies are clear and the radar doesn’t show any storm cells, it can still be challenging to ensure cut forage is dry enough to chop or bale. To make the drying processes more complex, the...

Planting small cereal grains in the spring can jumpstart the grazing season or bolster hay and silage supplies. No matter what the end goal of these cool-season species may be, now is the time t...

Spring calving season can be stressful enough without calf scours making animals sick and compounding medical costs. That is why the Sandhills Calving System was designed to limit the spread of calf s...

Most farm fires are created by accident. Electrical sparks fly, engines run too hot, and wet hay spontaneously combusts. However, there is one instance when fires are planned for and set intentionally...