General Updates

By King’s Research Team One concept that is fairly new to the market is the idea of harvesting summer annual forage sorghum at the boot stage. Boot stage harvest is managed as a mow and wilt rather than direct chop. Much like in small grain forages, the plant is allowed to mature to the point…

By Joshua Baker, King’s Marketing Manager When analyzing any summer annual, you need to take a critical look at both your crop rotation as well as your overall management style. Considering the maturity of the crops, as well as your ability to harvest and store them appropriately will help you better understand your expected value…

David Hunsberger, King’s Regional Coordinator The basis for a successful double crop rotation is similar to any other scenario; plan first, and then execute. Success hinges on the foundation of soil testing, weed and pest control, scouting, appropriate seeding rates, seed selections and fertility applications.  In planning ahead to multi-crop, a few questions must be…

By Tracy Neff, King’s Agronomist Introduction When it comes to spring planted annual forages, many farmers consider planting small grains like oats, spring triticale or spring barley. These are often planted as forage, cover crop or a nurse crop for establishing with alfalfa. The resulting forage, with proper fertilization, can be of high quality in…

By Abby Kautz, King’s Customer Service Rep, and Joshua Baker, King’s Marketing Manager Now that the spring has dawned, our minds focus again toward small grain management. Cereal growth stages can be described in Feekes growth stages explained in the graphic below. Wheat at Boot Stage (Purdue University) The Feekes scale of cereal development describes…

By Mike Rankin Crops and Soils Agent UW Extension-Fond du Lac Co. Corn test weight (TW) is an often discussed topic of conversation among corn growers. The topic moves to the forefront in years when corn has been stressed at some point during the grain filling period or when the growing season is ended by…

King’s Versa Grass Mix, which contains 2 varieties of premium orchardgrass, for a total of 40% orchardgrass There were many reports last year of orchardgrass persistence problems. This may be attributable to several different factors, but a major cause was the wet year, especially early in the growing season, which led to fungal infestations in…

The King’s Agriseeds team continued across Pennsylvania, presenting to a crowd of farmers in Reedsville, PA on Thursday 1/23/14. King’s speakers sought to cover concepts that were useful to the audience, instead of simply promoting products. Pictured here, Tim Fritz, company owner, speaks to the crowd about the importance of calibrating their drills before planting.…

We had a six inch layer of snow fall in the Lehigh Valley. Before the storm, road salt slurry was applied to the road surface and snow plows were jockeying around. The city-dwellers were scurrying about to get pavements and vehicles cleared. Another way to look at snow fall is the agronomist’s view. Snow provides…

The King’s Agriseeds Educational meetings continue across the state of Pennsylvania. Despite sub-zero temperatures of -8 degrees F and some gelled up diesel fuel lines on Wednesday January 22, Pennsylvania farmers continue to make it out to attend the King’s Agriseeds winter meetings. They’ve been rewarded with  farm fellowship and the chance to learn about…