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Maine's dairy farmers fear the closing of one of the state's major milk processors could mean a financial hit for every farmer. (Click here to read a previous story about the plant's closure.)
Maine's 306 remaining dairy farms each receive a small bonus payment each month from the Maine Milk Pool. That pool is funded by a 13-cents-per-gallon fee paid by Maine milk processors.
If you read the opening paragraph of our forage statistics poster (inserted in the center of your magazine), the first word is “drought” and the words “nation’s worst agricultural calamity since 1988” follow shortly thereafter.
Over the past few years, farmers have experienced increased yield potential and higher-quality forage as a result of advances in alfalfa genetics.
While the seed plays a major role in the success of the crop, practicing effective alfalfa management practices are vital to helping the crop reach its full potential.
Both water management and irrigation system maintenance can help maximize forage production with a limited water supply. Currently, in Idaho, reservoir storage is low, giving little carryover water to augment a potentially short snow year.
As forage production costs continue to escalate, hay producers are looking more closely at their bottom line. Many have questions about how to determine their bale weight, feed value and selling price.
Thom Mueller, the 2012 winner of the Ontario Forage Masters Program, grew up in a small town just outside of Ottawa, Canada.His parents, who are now semi-retired, worked hard to build a foundation for the family farm where he now lives with his wife, Wilma, and two daughters, Mikaela and Cassy.
The raking step is sometimes taken for granted in the production of quality hay, but how a rake handles the hay can materially impact efficiency and forage quality.
For two veteran custom hay harvesters, forage quality is all about the angle of the rake and its ability to create a fluffed-up windrow.
