Alfalfa is a high-quality forage providing a high concentration of protein as well as energy. However, this is also what makes grazing alfalfa a bloat risk.

With funding from the USDA NRCS, ARS and NIFA, along with OCP North America, the soil fertility community has undertaken the immense task of finding and collecting the data that underpin the existing soil testing paradigm in the U.S.

In most instances, the dormant season (late fall and winter) provides the best opportunity to remove litter and germinating annual grass seedlings without negatively affecting perennial plants.

Recently, I attended a meeting where the presenter spoke glowingly about a new miracle product his company was marketing. His PowerPoint slides dutifully showed fancy tables and graphs, but as I looked around the room, I noticed that some folks were beginning to nod off.

With winter approaching, it may be hard to watch the weather destroy your winter wheat crop. Fortunately, being prepared and having a backup plan may save your sanity.

As more and more growers invest in their own dry fertilizer applicators – and as the cost of in-season downtime climbs upward of $2,000 per day – end-of-season equipment inspections have become increasingly important to help protect the machine investment and ensure timely fertilizer applications the next spring.

One of the things we have learned over the years is that new alfalfa seedings that have good growing conditions yield much better in future years. Said another way – seeding year stress lowers yield potential of alfalfa in future years.

By concentrating on improving bale density, producers can significantly enhance their return on investment.