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Large corn seeds come with a bigger energy package

Chemical-less no-till: A realistic goal?

July 13, 2017

Genevieve Slocum

Many people envision their farm becoming a chemical-free or reduced chemical no-till system but can’t quite figure out what that looks like, including weed suppression, controlling the previous crop and getting all the inputs in the field.

The legalities of hiring or firing an employee on the farm

July 13, 2017

Tiffany Lashmet

The laws surrounding hiring and firing farm employees are complex, which leads to a great deal of misunderstanding among employers about what they can and should do when in these situations. What type of investigation should an employer conduct into a potential hire?

A quality acronym – RFQ

July 13, 2017

Woody Lane

Last time I described a popular method of scoring forages called relative feed value (RFV). But RFV has severe limitations. RFV ignores protein content and does not account for differences in fiber digestibility.

Some states have laws that ensure you get paid for custom work

Getting paid for your custom services

July 13, 2017

Paul Goeringer

This article is not legal advice. As summer slowly fades to fall, some harvesters may have already swathed and baled hay – and unfortunately, customers might not have paid for these services.

Value added: Certified weed-free hay

July 12, 2017

Lynn Jaynes

To bring added value to a hamburger, you might add cheese or barbecue sauce. To bring added value to a dairy, you could expand to make your own yogurt. To bring added value to a ranch, you could offer hunting licenses or agritourism.

Maximize hay marketing and feeding with hay tests

June 15, 2017

Glenn Shewmaker

Forage testing is done to estimate the intake and performance by livestock. Low-quality hay does not allow a high-producing animal to consume enough digestible energy to be highly productive.

Certainty: Death, taxes and cattle hate dirt

June 6, 2017

Philip Loduha

Most people consider death and taxes as the only two “certainties” in our human existence. Most dairy or beef producers would probably add a third “certainty” to the list: cattle do not like to eat dirt.

Marketing your custom harvesting business: Getting customers to fill capacity

June 1, 2017

Sarah Cornelisse

For some custom harvesters, there may come a time when things are a little slower than usual. Does that mean panic is warranted?

What weeds can I live with? It’s not so black and white

June 1, 2017

Melissa A. Bravo

As I write this article during a Northeastern whiteout blizzard in March, I keep thinking about the incomprehensible number of blackened acres that burnt in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and into Colorado.

Adjusting mowers for native grasses

June 1, 2017

Jonathan Walton

Special attention should be paid to the cutting height when harvesting switchgrass or other native warm-season grasses for forage or biomass (Figure 1).