Crop Rotation

Seedbed preparation for stand establishment

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0500

Seedbed preparation is one of the most fundamental management practices that can make or break our yield goals.

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.

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.

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.

Alfalfa profitability: The value of short rotations

djunders@wisc.edu — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:00:00 -0500

Shorter rotations mean greater profit per acre for the entire farm because of higher alfalfa yield, higher forage quality, reduced pesticide use, greater nitrogen credits and increased corn yields.