It’s hard to imagine winter is coming when fall is just beginning. However, preparing for the winter survival of your alfalfa stand begins now. Your late summer and fall alfalfa management strategy can have a large impact on spring regrowth and next year’s yield potential.

It’s a piece of equipment that probably isn’t on many Midwest farmers’ radars at this time, but could eventually be a new tool against the growing herbicide-resistant weed problem, says a University of Illinois crop scientist.

Now is a good time to own farmland in most parts of the U.S., according to the latest cropland values report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service on Aug. 5, 2015 – unless, of course, you want to farm in New Jersey, where cropland values hit a high of $13,500 average per acre.

USDA scientists have found that a natural seed coating can protect alfalfa against some soilborne diseases.