The business decision to purchase seed, grow, harvest, and then incorporate reduced-lignin forages into your high-performing dairy diets is more than a nutritional balancing act
On occasion, growers ask for advice on forage seed mixtures. When growers are considering new alfalfa seedings, their questions focus on what other legume or grass species to add with alfalfa, and how...
Tree bark and wood are robust analogies for the impact that lignin has within plant cell walls. Lignin is a structural component of plant cell walls, nested within both acid detergent (ADF) and neutral...
Cows being fed corn silage often tell two different tales when changing from old to new crop silage. In some years, the story is positive with a resulting uptick in animal health and performance. At o
Wiersma is the alfalfa business manager with DuPont Pioneer. Thomas is retired from the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute and president of Oak Point Agronomics Ltd. Soil fertility is an
There’s a lot of interest in sulfur fertilization these days. Environmental efforts to reduce air pollution have been highly successful, and much less sulfur is now deposited on cropland via precipitation
Feed costs make up the largest expense on most dairy farms. Forage production and the affiliated cost to grow, harvest, and store forage is a significant portion of the feed costs
When every dollar counts, dairy producers must decide where to invest their time and resources. For some, hiring custom operators for cropwork and manure hauling allows them to focus on the dairy side
Winter grains, primarily winter triticale or winter rye, are growing in popularity. With management backed by research, yields have moved from 1.5 to 2 tons of dry matter
During our careers, we’ve had the privilege of seeing not just one, but several new plant genetic technologies dramatically change the crop production landscape
It’s never too early to begin planning for late summer and early fall management of alfalfa (and alfalfa-grass). First, check your recent soil analyses, and take soil samples for a new analysis
The older we get, the faster summer seems to go by. Just as we begin to enjoy bright sunshine and warm weather, fair time and school time come along to signal the approaching end to another summer
In alfalfa fields, weeds are no more welcome than rain on freshly cut hay. Weeds compete for the same resources needed to grow a good crop of alfalfa: water, nutrients, and light
With all the exciting advances in forage and field crops, including reduced-lignin alfalfa, drought-resistant corn hybrids, and shredlage, agricultural lime seems like a boring topic
Choosing the right machinery for harvesting alfalfa can have a large impact on forage yield. While we certainly need to drive over the field to harvest it, we can minimize the effect traffic has
Wiersma is the alfalfa business manager with DuPont Pioneer. Thomas is retired from the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute and president of Oak Point Agronomics Ltd. Nit
It’s been over five years since we covered the topic of cool-season grass management in this column. Specifying “cool-season” is important since there are warm-season grasses such as...
Calculating manure's price tag Manure is no doubt a useful by-product, but one must realize the time and money it takes to get it from the cow to the field. Funding for the project was provided by a USDA-RME...
The author is a nutrition and management consultant with Progressive Dairy Solutions based out of California. Once a modernized and well-maintained forage harvester is set up and operating properly, it...