January 2022 Hay Pellets

By Hay and Forage Grower

January 25, 2022

• Kansas State University Extension offers these tips for dealing with dead smooth bromegrass fields.

• Cattle and calves on feed for the U.S. slaughter market for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 animals or more totaled 12 million head on January 1, 1% above a year ago. Marketings of fed cattle during December totaled 1.86 million head, slightly above 2020.

• Nebraska and many other states experienced their warmest December on record.

• The National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance reminds forage producers that the crop insurance sign-up closing date for spring-seeded crops is March 15 in many states.

• Kuhns Manufacturing, North Bloomfield, Ohio, is changing its company name to Norden Manufacturing. The company makes several square bale handling products.

January 18, 2022

• Although many forage production metrics were down in 2021, USDA reports that U.S. sorghum silage production was up 63% compared to 2020 and was 26% above 2019. Acreage was up in all major sorghum silage-producing states except for South Dakota.

• The University of Florida offers these strategies to manage cost of production in pasture systems.

This information from The Alliance for Grassland Renewal highlights the benefits of nontoxic endophytes to both tall fescue grass and the grazing animal.

• The National Alfalfa & Forage Association (NAFA) recently announced the availability of a new publication titled “Alfalfa Bermudagrass Management Guide.” Copies can be downloaded for free or purchased for $2 per copy.

• According to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, U.S. sales of tractors in 2021 were up 10.3% over the previous year. This occurred despite major logistical and production issues caused by the pandemic.

January 11, 2022

• According to USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, November alfalfa hay exports from the U.S. totaled 231,258 metric tons (MT), which is 23% greater than the previous year for the same month. Year-to-date alfalfa hay exports to all trade partners through November 2021 totaled over 2.6 million MT, which was 8% higher than during the same period in 2020.

• China imported 126,972 MT of alfalfa hay during last November, which was its lowest monthly total since January but was still nearly 50% more than November 2020. Year-to-date through November 2021, alfalfa hay exports to China are 37% ahead of the previous year.

• Utah State University Extension will be offering an evening Zoom workshop January 11 that will address strategies for dealing with high fertilizer prices. There is no cost to participate.

• Target this list of 2022 beef production management practices for improvement if profitability is the goal.

• John Deere recently introduced a fully autonomous tractor that is scheduled for mass production.

January 4, 2022

• Record December snowfalls in the Sierra Nevada Mountains was positive news for future reservoir levels in California. Statewide, the snowpack is 160% of average and water equivalents are equally as high.

• Sometimes, winter supplementation of beef calves doesn’t pay, according to this University of Nebraska Extension report. Again, it’s a forage quality thing.

• The University of Kentucky’s 2021 Long-term Summary of Forage Variety Trials is now available.

• Registration is currently open for the Midwest Forage Association’s Symposium 2022 in Wisconsin Dells, Wis.

• The Grassfed Exchange Conference has been rescheduled for May 18 to 20 in Fort Worth, Texas.