Perennial Legumes – Alfalfa & Clover
Alfalfas Alfalfa is a 3-to-5 year crop that is an excellent source of protein. It is the most drought-tolerant legume and does not thrive under wet conditions. As a legume, it fixes its own nitrogen but utilizes a lot of potassium. Its fiber is not as digestible as grasses, so adding late heading grasses to…
Managing Your Fields in the ‘Off’ Season
By Joy Beam Regular soil testing followed by liming and fertilizing according to recommendations is arguably the one management practice that will have the greatest long-term effect on production per acre. It should be the first dollar spent when striving to maximize your land’s productivity, help your crops reach their potential, and optimize the cost-effectiveness…
Observations and Thoughts – the 2014 Corn Crop in the Northeast
Cooler weather with adequate nutrients and moisture provides slower grain fill for potential higher yields and test weights. By Dave Wilson, Research Agronomist Cooler temperatures this past corn growing season slowed down corn growth overall in our region. However, at most locations, rainfall has been slightly average to above average, and even excessive in some…
Hay Exchange Websites for the Southeast
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, NOV. 1, 2016 CONTACT: Jen Kendrick, public information officer NCDA&CS 919-707-3005 Flooding, drought causes concern about winter hay supply; website launched to connect buyers and sellers RALEIGH – Flooding in eastern North Carolina and drought in western counties has state agricultural officials concerned about feeding livestock and horses this winter.The North…
The Power of Clover in Beef Pastures
The Power of Clover in Beef Pastures By: Joy Beam Yoder Clover can be a large benefit to livestock production, specifically in beef cattle pastures for two main reasons. These include forage yield per acre and increased nutritional availability. First, let’s discuss the ways that clover boosts forage yield per acre. The first benefit most…
When is Corn Alternative Forage?
“Corn” “Diversity” and even “innovative cropping systems” usually don’t go together in the same sentence, but when grazing corn varieties are stockpiled into a winter grazing system, it turns out they occasionally can. Grazing standing corn is certainly not a new practice, but many farmers may not be sure of its fit within their operation.…
Fall planting for a successful spring: Preparing soil quality and providing forage
Late summer is often the time to begin thinking about early spring. What will you plant and how will you get your soil in the kind of condition it In spring, roots from overwintering hairy vetch and crimson clover have built soil structure and fertility for the summer crop should be in for that spring…
Blair County, PA Workshop: Learn to Make Cover Crops Work in Your System
You’re invited to a comprehensive 2-day field day to learn about how and why to make cover crops work for you. At this two-day workshop, which includes an evening field walk followed by an all-day series of expert speakers and discussion, Extension and NRCS agents and seed reps explain how cover crops complete the farm…
Selecting the correct seeding rate for sorghum based on its seeds per pound.
By Tracy Neff Sorghum seed, whether its forage sorghum, sorghum sudan or a sudangrass comes in varying seed size. The size of the seed (seeds per pound) will vary based on variety and/ or the growing conditions where the seed was produced from year to year. Quite often drier conditions during the seed production of…
Waging War Against Slugs in 2018
By Joy Beam, Technical sales support Following the slug-infested spring of 2017, many growers are worried we will have the same problem in 2018, and for good reason. We haven’t had a cold enough winter in several years to kill the adult slugs from the previous year, and the effectiveness of slug controls, such as…
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