Southwest Missouri hay producers will have an opportunity to improve their hay making skills by attending a hay school from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., April 14 at the Fair Grove Lions Club, 142 S. Orchard Blvd., Fair Grove.

“There is a lot at stake when making hay and many things to consider to make it worth the effort and to be profitable,” said Brie Menjoulet, University of Missouri Extension agronomy specialist.

Even on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, where average rainfall is a mere seven inches per year, farmers can reap the benefits of winter cover crops without the expense of irrigation, University of California research has found. Growing a winter cover crop helps retain soil nitrogen – keeping it from leaching into groundwater – improves water infiltration, reduces runoff, increases soil organic matter and boosts long-term soil fertility.

The International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) has just released its newest publication in support of 4R Nutrient Stewardship titled "4R Plant Nutrition: A Manual for Improving the Management of Plant Nutrition." The manual was released during the 2012 Great Plains Soil Fertility Conference and Nutrient Stewardship Summit both held in Denver, Colorado this March 5 to 7.

Solar tents can easily, inexpensively and successfully kill weed seeds and rhizomes, eliminating the need for hauling weeds out of remote areas where the unwanted plants have taken hold, a UC researcher has demonstrated.

Research by Jim Stapleton, a UC Cooperative Extension advisor based at Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, was published as "Feasibility of solar tents for inactivating weedy plant propagative material" in the March 2012 issue of the Journal of Pest Science.

Monsanto’s search for America’s Farmers Mom of the Year is back for 2012, along with a $10,000 grand prize. Anyone can nominate their favorite farm mom by visiting AmericasFarmers.com by April 23 and submitting a 300-word essay explaining how she contributes to her family, farm, community and agriculture.

Surveys are now arriving in mailboxes around the nation to help identify all active farms in the U.S. The National Agricultural Classification Survey (NACS), which asks landowners whether or not they are farming and for basic farm information, is one of the most important early steps used to determine who should receive a 2012 Census of Agriculture report form.

What do weeds, grasshoppers, armyworms and feral hogs have in common? The answer is that all are pests that disrupt pasture production. And the control of all will be covered at the upcoming Dallas County Pasture Management program on March 30, 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m., according to the Texas AgriLife Extension Service experts conducting the program. The program will offer five continuing education units to holders of Texas Department of Agriculture private applicators licenses, three in the general category, one in integrated pest management and one in laws and regulations, said Dr. Vanessa Corriher, AgriLife Extension forage specialist and one of the program speakers.

After a year of drought, East Texas hay stocks remain low, making production efficiency ever more important, said a Texas AgriLife Extension Service expert. On April 27, AgriLife Extension will offer a full day of training on hay production and purchasing that producers are not going to find anywhere else, said Dr. Vanessa Corriher, AgriLife Extension forage specialist. Held at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Overton, registration for the training is $60 and includes lunch, break refreshments and program materials.