Writer Amber Friedrichsen, Managing Editor

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.

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Defying grazing norms in the Deep South

Farm Visits

Jan. 27 2025 When I was in college, I had an agronomy professor who liked to end lectures with the phrase, “You see what you know.”

Forages from the farmer’s perspective

Grazing

Jan. 21 2025 Farming can be just as much about crop and livestock production as it is about personal growth. Learning from mistakes, taking opportunities, and having aspirations is what moves farm businesses forwa

Farmers made more hay on less land in 2024

Alfalfa

Jan. 14 2025 USDA launched its Crop Production Annual Summary last Friday, detailing the previous years’ hay production, acreage, and average yields. According to the report, the nation’s forage productio

Alfalfa qualifies for conservation payments

Forage Flash

Jan. 14 2025 The National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance (NAFA) announced last week that alfalfa will now be included as a short-term perennial option in the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) 3

The queen of forages still rules the river

Alfalfa

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

How effective is your bale feeder?

Forage Flash

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

Select seed with disease in mind

Forage Flash

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

Hay exports are a different ball of wax

Markets

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

Stretch your stockpile grazing days

Forage Flash

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

Have Western hay prices bottomed out?

Hay

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

Garbage bags, cornstalk bales, and a turkey

Beef

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...

A cheesy ode to forage production

Forage Flash

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

Warm-season grasses play drought defense

Forage Flash

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

Don’t give up on wheat grazing

Forage Flash

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...

Alfalfa roots run deep at this historic dairy

Alfalfa

Nov. 26 2024 When I started working at Hay & Forage Grower, I got a front-row seat to all things alfalfa, from baling hay and chopping haylage to plant genetics and seed marketing. Little did I know I th

Do you need to reseed?

Forage Flash

Nov. 26 2024 The offseason is planning season, which includes preparing for pasture and hayfield improvements. In this case, a good plan will justify why, how, and when stand maintenance is required, as well a bud

Dead forage and dormant seedings

Grasses

Nov. 19 2024 Reports of dry weather and drought conditions never seem to leave our newsfeed. Where one region receives much needed rainfall, another is slowly progressing from moderate to severe to extreme drought

Four things I learned at a hay auction

Forage Flash

Nov. 19 2024 In every edition of eHay Weekly, we offer examples of market prices for alfalfa and grass hay from selected state USDA reports. Those reports are also used to complete the Market Update column toward

Forage alone may not cut it for calves

Forage Flash

Nov. 12 2024 Winter can be a critical growth period for weaned calves that are retained as backgrounders. This stretch of time sets the stage for final animal performance, which may be helped or hindered by the gr

Corn hybrids could affect intercropping

Forage Flash

Nov. 12 2024 The first production year for spring-seeded alfalfa typically gets off to a slow start. In some cases, farmers may only get half of the forage yield they would expect from an established stand.This yi

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