Writer Mike Rankin, Senior Editor | Hay and Forage Magazine

Mike Rankin

The author joined Hay & Forage Grower as the managing editor in April 2015. Since July of 2024, he has transitioned to senior editor. He had previously served 27 years as the Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin crops and soils agent with the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Service. He also worked eight years on a large dairy and grain farm in southern Illinois.

Find a consistent client base for your hay

Hay

Nov. 12 2024 Making dry hay isn’t easy, especially in the humid regions. For many who choose this line of work, selling hay can be equally as challenging.Whenever I visit a hay farm — and there’s...

Partners grew this custom chopping business

Farm Visits

Nov. 8 2024 In addition to his daily dairy duties, Bryan Henrichs is the majority owner of a unique five-chopper custom forage harvesting business that originally grew out of their dairy’s farming operation

Cutting that final alfalfa flush: yea or nay?

Forage Flash

Nov. 5 2024 Alfalfa-killing freezes aren’t what they used to be. In fact, other than perhaps the far Northern reaches of the U.S., alfalfa is barely showing signs of frost damage, if at all. This is unusual...

Water-soaked hay improved asthma in horses

Forage Flash

Oct. 22 2024 Equine asthma, or heaves as it is often referred to, is an inflammatory reaction to inhaled dusts, molds, or other allergens. Horses that contract the disease have swollen airways, which constrict and

Iowa dairyman pleased with grass-fed niche

Grazing

Oct. 15 2024 High-quality forage is important for any dairy but none so much as a so-called grass-fed dairy where grasses and legumes make up 100% of the ration. Jeremy Peake of Waukon, Iowa, has been p

New forage grass maturity index introduced

Grazing

Oct. 14 2024 These two questions follow grass varieties around like a lost puppy

Graze cornstalks and sleep well

Forage Flash

Oct. 8 2024 Crop residues have long provided a cost-effective forage source for feeding animals during late fall, winter, and early spring. Grazing cornstalks tops the list from a popularity standpoint; however

Alfalfa Checkoff Program set for relaunch

Forage Flash

Sept. 24 2024 After a short hiatus as the alfalfa marketing world went through an engine overhaul, the Alfalfa Checkoff Program is set to resume on October 1. This is great news for the future of alfalfa.The checko

Smut conquers the cornfield and dinner plate

Forage Flash

Sept. 24 2024 Corn smut is like an old tattoo; it looks worse than it really is. Nevertheless, it still baffles the typical mind that something that looks so bad can actually cause inconsequential harm when fed to

Interseeding sudangrass into abused pastures

Grazing

Sept. 17 2024 Photo: Iowa State UniversityTrying to get additional forage production from sacrifice pastures used for overwintering or spring calving is a struggle on many farms

Tastes great! Less filling! Not toxic!

Grasses

Sept. 10 2024 For much of the U.S., frost is within a page turn of the calendar. That means the prussic acid poisoning alarm for sorghum-related species will promptly be sounded. In the near future, however, there

Brassicas pack a nutritional punch

Forage Flash

Sept. 3 2024 Pasture managers have a different-looking toolbox than most farmers. Somewhere deep in the corner of those toolboxes, buried under the grasses and legumes, are the brassicas. Although they are n

Chop-chop! Get choppers ready for corn

Forage Flash

Aug. 27 2024 Forage harvesters have a plethora of moving parts and possible adjustments. In part, this is so the machines can be fine-tuned to the many different types of crops that may be chopped in a given

Bemoaning a sluggish hay market

Forage Flash

Aug. 20 2024 I’m not a Facebook social butterfly; in fact, I don’t have any friends on the social media behemoth. That’s by choice, and thankfully, I have plenty of good friends in real life.Even...

Getting more money for hay is no secret

Hay

Aug. 13 2024 We hear a lot about “value-added” these days. When margins are tight, farmers figure out ways to get more money from the same raw product. Often, that involves skipping the middle man and realizin

Pasture layout often drives grazing success

Forage Flash

Aug. 13 2024 Few people get it exactly right the first time, but designing a fencing and watering system plays a large role in the efficiency and productivity of the overall grazing system. According to University

Be mindful of the August forage “to do” list

Forage Flash

Aug. 6 2024 August marks a significant demarcation date for forage producers. With only a month of what we typically consider summer left, the start of the cooler fall season becomes reality with a one-page flip

Big hay in big sky country

Farm Visits

July 25 2024 From its headwaters, the Missouri River takes a circuitous route through Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota

Clipping pastures: an age-old debate

Forage Flash

July 23 2024 Farmers are known to have strong opinions and often readily express them. From a pasture management perspective, few topics illicit stronger feelings than when the clipping topic is put on the table.I

High alfalfa yields start here

Alfalfa

July 16 2024 There are many routes to high-yielding alfalfa, but few of them don’t go down the potassium road. I was reminded of this after reading a recently published five-year study in Agronomy Journal that...

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