“... after which, I turned around and saved everyone time and trouble by walking straight to the principal’s office all by myself.”

Before you know it, the sun will be shining and hay will be lying in the field ready to be baled. Does your normal spring round baler start-up procedure go something like this? Connect round baler to tractor. Turn on the PTO and hope something doesn’t break.

Every year, researchers at colleges and universities around the country spend a considerable amount of their time on variety trial testing – all with the goal to aid producers in the selection of the best cultivars for their specific regions.

Spring is almost here and most growers have started thinking about planting dates. Though planting corn early often results in higher yields, choosing the wrong planting date can have adverse effects on crop establishment.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service will provide up to $25 million in grants to help develop and demonstrate cutting-edge ideas to improve conservation on private lands. NRCS has extended the application deadline to March 22.

The fiscal cliff created the opportunity for a number of changes in the tax rules regulating when a farm must complete and file their annual income tax returns. For 2012, farm income tax returns have received a deadline extension from the normal March 1, 2013 date to file their tax returns without penalty, if they have not made estimates. With the tax deadline extended, farm producers now have until April 15, 2013 to file their tax returns without a penalty.

It’s bound to happen … corn silage harvest is in full swing, harvesters are rolling, trucks are busy hauling and the pack tractors are moving back and forth when the nutritionist pulls in the driveway.

Riverview LLP, headquartered in Minnesota, milks 45,000 cows at seven different sites. Putting up forage at this scale requires a well-oiled machine.