The American Forage and Grassland Council (AFGC) is celebrating National Forage Week with the agricultural community June 19-25, 2016. Slightly less than 2 percent of the total U.S. population lives on a farm, making it more difficult for the general public to relate to farming and the accompanying benefits and challenges.

The number of hired workers on U.S. farms rose in April, most worked a little longer and average hourly wages increased, according to a quarterly Farm Labor report from the USDA’s National Ag Statistics Service.

On May 4, National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance (NAFA) announced the creation of the first-ever U.S. Alfalfa Farmer Research Initiative (aka Alfalfa Checkoff Program). As the nation’s third-most valuable field crop, alfalfa has historically not kept pace with research funding.

Alfalfa, like any plant system, needs sufficient amounts of nutrients to maintain quality stands and yields. To determine those needs, the Irrigated Alfalfa Management for Mediterranean and Desert Zones book published in 2008 by the University of California Alfalfa Workgroup has a chapter dedicated to fertilization strategies for the arid and semi-arid growing areas of the world, including many parts of California.

In response to recent media reports, Monsanto Co. disclosed that it has received an unsolicited, nonbinding proposal from Bayer AG for a potential acquisition of Monsanto, subject to due diligence, regulatory approvals and other conditions.

Forage Genetics International (FGI) and Monsanto announced on May 17 that FGI has acquired all of the commercial rights from the parties’ existing alfalfa research collaboration and that Monsanto has licensed to FGI certain intellectual property relating to its alfalfa traits and technology.