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Pasture is the most cost-effective feed for ruminant livestock. But at times, nutrients in pasture exceed the livestock’s needs. To measure pasture quality, we can sample and test pasture forage as we do hay.
A common management problem faced by most hay or livestock producers is weed and brush infestation. Weed species compete with desirable forage species for sunlight, moisture and nutrients.
Blue Lakes Country Club is a classy place. With its Snake River Canyon location, no jeans and collared shirts dress code, and its “only golf with a member” rule, it caters to the upper echelons of Magic Valley society. Yet, despite all its pretentions to Long Island sophistication, it’s located in the bread basket of Idaho farming country.
“First, it’s gotta be dark outside,” is the punchline of the joke that starts, “How do you pick a good watermelon?” It refers to the practice of stealing watermelons after dark.
I suppose all collections have to start somewhere. The photo accompanying this article was taken around 2003 and is a pretty good representation of the start of ours – the Farmall M and the Oliver 77.
For years, my colleagues and I have been preaching the benefits of cutting our area’s cool-season grass lawns at 4 inches to improve lawn health and control weeds. On the farm, the same logic holds. Leaving more stubble in our hay fields can have similar results.
All four tires on my old beater trailer were mostly worn out, somewhere between another couple hundred miles and barely hanging on. The manager of the tire shop wasn’t surprised to see me, nor was he surprised at the sorry state of my tires. He was pretty familiar with my routine.
A drive through the countryside where livestock are fed and cared for will reveal large, white, stuffed, plastic bags lying adjacent to farm buildings. These flexible feed structures store tons of haylage or corn silage.
Okay now, first things first. I do know the difference between “weather” and “whether.” I debated on the misspelling as an attention-getter, and if you’ve gotten this far, it worked! Thus far, 2019 has been an interesting weather year to say the least. My heart goes out to my fellow farmers who have seen cropland besieged by rain.
No more driving to the crest of the hill 4 miles away to find a cellphone signal. No more scratchy half-audible radio transmissions with every other word cutting out.
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