A new year is already in full swing and winter is moving along. Soon it will be time to start irrigation for the upcoming crop season.

The year 2011 proved to be very challenging for farmers across the country due to extremes in weather.

Several regions of the country experienced historic droughts and many farmers struggled to keep crops alive, while others faced the extreme opposite of prolonged periods of rain and flooding that resulted in extremely wet soil conditions that delayed or prevented spring plantings.

An Ontario “forage master,” Evert Veldhuizen, creates his high-quality forage on Veldale Farms along with his brother and nephew.

Evert’s mother and father started the farm back in 1966 and had farming in their blood.

In semi-arid environments such as Utah, water is one of the most limiting factors to crop production and the single-most important factor influencing plant growth and crop yields.

The use of baleage, also known as round bale silage, continues to grow across the upper Midwest on dairy and livestock farms.