Though large areas remained stricken, the number of counties under drought conditions continued to shrink, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service reports and the U.S. Drought Monitor.

From Interstate 45 to the east, most counties were either completely out of the drought or merely abnormally dry. Though most of the counties to the west of I-45 remained under drought, only about 25 percent were rated as being in severe or exceptional drought.

Plans are underway for the 29th World Forage Analysis Superbowl, held in conjunction with World Dairy Expo.

New research continues to show that the use of oxygen barrier films protects feedstuffs better than standard plastic coverings. Experiments to compare the effects of oxygen barrier films on the composition and losses from the upper layers of ensiled crops were carried out by a trio of European research institutions, in conjunction with Silostop. 

Lyle Yost was born on March 5, 1913, near Hesston, Kansas. He attended Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana, where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Economics in 1937 and a teaching certificate in 1942. In 1938, he married Erma Martin. In 1943, they moved to the family farm where his grandfather and father had lived, just north of Hesston.

National 4-H Council has received a $500,000 donation from the Monsanto Company to drive the continued expansion of the National 4-H Volunteer Initiative. This grant will fund vital volunteer training programs and the development of new volunteer recruitment and retention strategies.

The National 4-H Volunteer Initiative provides 4-H’s network of more than 540,000 existing volunteers with an extensive hands-on training experience - enhancing their abilities to effectively mentor youth with positive youth development opportunities to learn leadership, citizenship and other important life skills.

With record-setting early spring weather, parts of southern Michigan are seeing alfalfa fields with above-average growth. Some of these fields may have been slated to be planted to corn and along with the early growth, the question is whether producers should consider taking the first cutting off these fields before planting to corn?

Dow AgroSciences has launched the Pretty Sure Photo Contest sponsored by SureStart herbicide. The contest features a website for sharing - and voting on - photos of unexpected moments on the farm. From a tractor stuck in mud to a tipped-over grain cart, growers can upload their Pretty-Sure photos for a chance to be selected as one of three winners.

Just when Arkansas forage and livestock producers thought they’d get a break after last year’s drought, their newly greened up pastures are falling prey to true armyworms, said Kelly Loftin, extension entomologist with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.  

“We are seeing true armyworm damage in pastures across many areas of the state, but damage seem to be more concentrated in northeast Arkansas with some pockets in the southwest part of the state,” he said.

Rusty Harder has been appointed product manager for adjuvants at Wilbur-Ellis, an international marketer and distributor of agriculture products. He will be responsible for all operations related to the adjuvants products.