Alfalfa is a staple in many animal diets because it is an excellent source of fiber and high-quality protein. It’s complementary to other types of forage and grain, cost-effective and palatable.

Production agriculture uses tremendous amounts of fossil energy in the production of food, feed and fuel. The crops, livestock and renewable energy programs at University of Minnesota’s West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC) are engaged in an initiative to “green” energy consumed in crop and livestock operations.

Quarterly Federal Reserve Bank surveys are in, and the second quarter of 2016 took a toll on land values across much of the nation’s midsection.

U.S. farmers spent $362.8 billion on agricultural production in 2015, down 8.8 percent from 2014, reversing a long-term trend of growing costs, according to the Farm Production Expenditures report, published Aug. 4 by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Lower prices, but more regulations, characterize the crop input picture in the second half of 2016, according to the Northwest Farm Credit Services (FCS) Crop Inputs Market Snapshot.

Although they’re in different parts of the country, Pacific Northwest and Southcentral U.S. agricultural land has something in common: Values are holding despite a multitude of economic pressures.

Hay supplies generally exceeded demand as August began, pressuring prices lower, based on weekly state, regional and national hay market summaries.