Forage tests give us very valuable information about the forages we are feeding. But which numbers should we be looking at? Which are the important ones? The forage report (Table 1) gives some very good examples of numbers to compare to your forage tests.

Late-summer harvests of alfalfa are often disappointing to growers, with low yields and low quality. Let’s face it, our crop sometimes gets “the blues.”

The fundamental key to any successful dairy or beef operation is a good supply of high-yielding and high-quality forage. As an account manager for W-L Alfalfas, I get to be involved in that role on a daily basis.

In an effort to lessen dust storms and wind erosion in the Sooner State, the president of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts is asking farmers to consider alternatives to cultivating soil this spring.

A new seed company has sprouted up and its future looks bright. Hood River Seed (HRS), founded this spring, will focus on the national forage/cover crop market.

A majority of growers and other agricultural professionals turn to online sources first for general information about their industry, and over half of them use mobile or handheld devices 10 or more times per workday.

These are some of the key findings in a recent Syngenta survey, in which more than 300 readers of Thrive, the company’s production-focused magazine and website, responded to questions about their online habits and appetites.

Planting certain crops may help contain nitrogen, preventing it from contaminating drinking water. That’s what a group of researchers are studying in northwest Iowa, according to an Associated Press article.

Dr. Mark Boggess has been selected as the new director of the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center in Madison, Wisconsin, beginning May 19. The center operates under the umbrella of the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Boggess has been with ARS since 2009 as a national program leader in Beltsville, Maryland.

What Is the Issue?
Farm businesses’ debt-use decisions can affect their growth and survival, as well as the economic vitality of farm-dependent rural communities. Thus policymakers, agricultural lenders and other farm-sector participants closely follow trends in farm debt.

Alfalfa stands thin out over time, often slowly but sometimes suddenly. And as stands decline, tonnage and economic returns decline with them. When yield gets too low, the usual suggestion is to plant new fields to alfalfa, but sometimes factors like the immediate forage need, the cropping plans or field location make this suggestion undesirable.