The highest milk-producing cow produced 72,000 pounds in 305 days. That is more than three times the national average. Some stockers have more than 4 pounds per day gain on forage. Such high animal performance requires re-designed forage.

A low-lignin genetically modified trait for alfalfa has been deregulated by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). 

Farm equipment sales are set to decline in the U.S., according to a recent Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) report. The report claims that sales will decline because of previous market behavior and negative changes in farm wealth.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is registering the herbicide Enlist Duo with first-time ever restrictions to manage the problem of resistant weeds. The herbicide is for use in controlling weeds in corn and soybeans genetically-engineered (GE) to tolerate 2,4-D and glyphosate.

Farmers interested in planting cover crops to improve soil health now have two resources available to utilize. The two items are an expanded and updated second edition of the Midwest Cover Crops Field Guide and also the Midwest Cover Crops Council (MCCC) cover crops selector tool.

Corn earworms, also known as cotton bollworms, migrate at night, making them notoriously hard to track. Farmers worried about controlling infestations have to make educated guesses about the pest's movements, based on reports from other areas and past experience. Guessing wrong can be expensive: The pest costs cotton producers an estimated $200 million a year.

Rain damage costs for the Idaho hay crop are conservatively estimated at $87 million, according to a University of Idaho report, and Idaho isn't the only state hurting from rain or lack of it.

For generations, ranchers in the Southern Great Plains have fed their cattle the same way. During the spring and summer months, cattle graze on a sea of open pastures across the prairie, then in the fall fields begin to go dormant, and ranchers typically substitute hay in place of grazing. This can be a pricey endeavor, but this has been the tried-and-true process used for decades.