Forage Planting

Interseeding without starting over

jsagers@uidaho.edu — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

Pastures rarely fail overnight – and with strategic management and interseeding, they don’t need a full reset to recover.

Interseeding for success: Timing, equipment and species selection

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Before planting a cover crop, Hines urges producers to ask one key question: What’s your objective? A clear goal can turn a good idea into real on‑farm benefits.

Planting alfalfa green into cereal rye

joshua.kamps@wisc.edu — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Spring-seeded alfalfa fields are especially vulnerable to erosion. New field trials in southern Wisconsin suggest a promising solution: establishing alfalfa into a green, growing cover crop.

Growing alfalfa seed in the western U.S.

Fri, 09 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Farmers in different western U.S. regions grow different types of alfalfa seeds to meet the needs of those regions and climates.

Is this alfalfa stand good enough to keep?

djunders@wisc.edu — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0400

As an alfalfa stand ages and thins, the primary question becomes: Is this stand good enough to keep? Now is a good time to evaluate stands as more time is allowed for planning crop rotations than when stands are evaluated in the spring and determined to be uneconomic.

Building integrity in the soil

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Over time with many common farming practices, we start to lose some of those minerals to insolubility, erosion or crop exportation. As with sentences, a soil's integrity can deteriorate as these minerals are depleted, leading to reduced plant health, more pest pressure and overall harvest productivity decline.

Herbicide residuals can reduce alfalfa stand establishment

djunders@wisc.edu — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0400

The most effective weed control programs for summer annual weeds in many crops include herbicides that deliver long-lasting, residual weed control.

Summer annuals work well for fall and winter pasture

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Producers who have crops and livestock are finding that annual crops can fill some grazing gaps and help get the soil in better health before replanting a pasture or the next crop.

Silvopastures in the southeast U.S.

mscastil@ncsu.edu — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Silvopastures are characterized by the intentional integration and management of trees, forages and livestock.

Frost seeding clovers into tall fescue pastures provides multiple ecosystem services

mscastil@ncsu.edu — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Tall fescue-clover pastures have a long history of improving livestock performance in the U.S. transition zone as well as mitigating the effects of fescue toxicosis.

Management tips for getting a good alfalfa stand

alfalfadoc@outlook.com — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Which of these five mistakes for fall planting alfalfa have you made?

Advice from an agronomist: Increasing forage biodiversity on your ranch

Mon, 26 Jun 2023 16:44:48 -0400

Interseeding and overseeding are often used interchangeably but can have distinct management implications.

Maximize seeding yield: Plant early

sheaf001@umn.edu — Mon, 10 Apr 2023 14:32:25 -0400

Spring seedings provide optimal temperatures and moisture for the establishment and growth of alfalfa.

3 seeding tips for perennial pastures

Fri, 07 Apr 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Traditional annuals and more exotic cocktail cover-crop mixtures can make great forage for cattle on a temporary basis, but over the long haul, a good stand of perennial pasture can be the best choice.

Overseeding to thicken thinned alfalfa stands

djunders@wisc.edu — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 16:53:23 -0500

Some farmers see thin alfalfa (less than 40 stems per square foot) and think about overseeding to improve the stand and yield.

Best of both worlds: Interseeding alfalfa into corn

jerome.clark@wisc.edu — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 10:59:16 -0500

Alfalfa producers know that any road to profitability starts with good alfalfa stand establishment.

Road map to develop forage-based systems

kalyn.waters@ufl.edu — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 10:31:17 -0500

Forage-based livestock systems require year-round forage programs to provide sufficient nutrients to meet the cattle nutrient requirement.

Frost seeding: The low-input option for pasture improvement in 2023

oswalddean@gmail.com — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 16:55:00 -0500

When pasture and hay producers face high costs for equipment, diesel fuel and commercial fertilizer, frost seeding can be a lower-cost option to greatly improve the quality and productivity of pastures and one-more-year hayfields.

Growing alfalfa seed in Western states

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 16:00:45 -0500

For anyone thinking about growing alfalfa seed, he recommends attending one of their seed schools. Find someone who is doing it, who can give advice for your area.

Establishing alfalfa while growing corn

Mon, 31 Jan 2022 14:00:01 -0500

The most common crop sequences in the Corn Belt region of the U.S. are continuous corn and corn-soybean. In the last two to three decades, forage-based, more diverse crop rotations have transitioned to less diverse annual crop-based rotations.

Alfalfa’s role in sustainable agriculture

emeccage@foragegenetics.com — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 14:00:01 -0500

In recent years, there has been a resurgence in sustainable farming practices and related research, driven mostly by increased interest in improving soil health, nutrient recycling and carbon sequestration.

Strategizing for the forage game beyond X’s and O’s

scott_fleming@rockriverlab.com — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 21:12:29 -0400

Farming is a lot like football. The players must be aggressive to score, but we play smart defense. Always setting goals and creating a game plan to meet those goals is a common denominator.

The difference of diversity

jpjohnson@noble.org — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 20:40:58 -0400

Cover crops serve as a useful tool that can help you follow soil health principles and regenerate the health and productivity of the soil on your ranch.

Seed update for summer and fall of 2021

chad@westernforage.com — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 19:11:26 -0400

As I write this article in early spring, talk of drought is becoming more prevalent in many parts of the country. Drought years can be tough on forage operations in many ways.

Perennial peanut: Your questions answered

d.leonard@ufl.edu — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 14:00:01 -0500

Often referred to as “the alfalfa of the South,” the addition of perennial peanut into forage systems has been a game-changer for many Florida cattlemen looking to improve their ranch’s performance.

Winter forage: Not winter grain nor a cover crop

tfk1@cornell.edu — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 14:00:01 -0500

Winter forage is a crop that is rapidly increasing across the Northeast, central U.S. and in eastern Canada. It is a winter grain forage specifically grown for high-producing dairy cows in a high-forage diet.

Double crop: Double forage

hartschuh.11@osu.edu — Mon, 31 Aug 2020 13:00:01 -0400

Summer annuals in a double-crop system can return more dollars per acre, but not all summer annuals return the same value or yield.

My cows don’t know anything about COVID-19 – but three things could affect them for the better

brett.rushing@msstate.edu — Mon, 31 Aug 2020 13:00:01 -0400

Dr. Carl Hoveland, a pioneer in forage livestock research, said: “Beef cattle production in the southeastern U.S. is an inefficient and often unprofitable enterprise.

A specialist’s grass

woody@woodylane.com — Sun, 01 Mar 2020 14:00:01 -0500

Every profession has special tools – auto mechanics, surgeons or sheep shearers. You know, those weird gadgets craftsmen pull out of their toolboxes when they need a whatchamacallit to fix a thingamabob.

Simplifying grain drill calibration

jessica.buckman@uky.edu — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 20:12:58 -0500

Grain drill calibration is a critical yet often ignored part of successful forage establishment and pasture renovation. Planting lower seed rates than recommended can result in thin stands susceptible to weed encroachment.