Amber Friedrichsen

The author is the managing editor for Hay & Forage Grower. Amber Friedrichsen joined the Hay & Forage Grower staff as an associate editor in May 2023. As of July 2024, she has assumed the role of managing editor. Friedrichsen also served as the editorial intern in 2021 and 2022. She graduated from Iowa State University in May 2023 with a double major in agricultural communication and agronomy. Friedrichsen grew up and worked on her family’s diversified crop and livestock farm in eastern Iowa near Clinton.


Jan. 7, 2025
Alfalfa has a lot of impressive features when it comes to water usage. And despite being a major water user, alfalfa is also a major food producer. At least, that is how Dan Putnam defended the number...

Jan. 7, 2025
Driving through Midwestern countryside over the holidays, I observed no shortage of sacrifice paddocks with bale feeders surrounded by cattle. More often than not, the feeders were also surrounded by...

Dec. 31, 2024
With a new year comes opportunities for new alfalfa seedings. For those whose list of resolutions includes establishing alfalfa, it is encouraged to secure seed supplies early, and selecting varieties...

Dec. 24, 2024
The climate of the U.S. hay export market has gone from good to difficult to different. Different, or strange, according to Scot Courtright, who explained how trade has changed over the past few years...

Dec. 24, 2024
In regions where tall fescue dominates the pasture base, stockpiling can be an economical way to preserve forage quality and feed cattle through the winter. With that said, the way in which stoc...

Dec. 17, 2024
Josh Callen put it plainly: Growers are selling hay for 2019 prices while paying 2024 production costs. That’s how the author of the Hoyt Report set the scene for the Western market during his annua...

Dec. 10, 2024
“The turkey’s on fire!”That was how I was greeted at my parents’ house on Thanksgiving minutes before the rest of our family was supposed to arrive. No, the bird in the oven was not up in flam...

Dec. 10, 2024
American dairy consumption is having somewhat of a renaissance with the latest data boasting the highest levels since 1959 at 661 pounds per capita. While consumer trends and grocery shopping habits a...

Dec. 3, 2024
Reflecting on another drought year may put a fire under some farmers’ seats to be more proactive about forage availability next season. Adding warm-season grasses into hay and grazing systems might...

Dec. 3, 2024
In regions where wheat fields dominate the agricultural landscape, farmers often use fall and spring growth as a source of forage — weather permitting. What seemed like a questionable year to use wh...