Hay news
Maybe it’s time to put some eggs in a different basket — that is, livestock. And since cattle prices are formidable for newcomers, I suggest a more reasonable approach to diversification: sheep.
Wet and hot conditions in northern Illinois are impacting crop growth, as well as providing an opportunity for increased disease pressure this year.
Clay Geyer, former From the Fields columnist, is back this year to share updates from his farm in northern Indiana.
Summer is finally here in northern Illinois. Temperatures are going to be hot this weekend. We call it Georgia weather, teasing our daughter who lives in Georgia. Luckily, we have had more rain than they have had.
The clothes we wore, like the crops we worked, marked the seasons on the dairy farm of my youth. Coveralls, for example, suggested winter while, ahem, “cover little” meant the hot, steamy southern Illinois summer.
During the first two weeks of June, the Rahn family is going in many different directions, including making hay and spraying a second pass of herbicides to control weeds in their crop fields.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency announced the availability of low-interest physical loss loans for producers affected by the Feb. 8 and Feb. 27 tornadoes in Illinois.
Exceptional projects of FFA members from across the state will be highlighted during the 96th annual Illinois FFA State Convention, set for June 11-13.
Increasing profitability of sheep operations starts at conception.
April was an extremely busy time, mostly because we welcomed a new granddaughter. Her name is Brynlee and she is doing well. We were lucky to spend more time in Georgia in April than Illinois.
The race to keep up with grass growth is about to start here. The sheep and cattle are now content with the rye and volunteer wheat, saving on the hay supply.
I’m glad to be done feeding hay and am now grazing cereal rye and red clover. Some of the rye is in the flag leaf stage already. I have rye that is 10 inches tall right next to 30-inch tall rye, so I need to get it grazed.
The Noble Research Institute is focused on land stewardship for improved soil health for grazing animal production with lasting profitability.
Champions of organic farming have long portrayed it as friendlier to humans and the earth. But a new study in a California county found a surprising effect as their acreage grew.
Recently, I was asked to describe myself without saying I was a wife or mother and that hit me a bit differently. After all, as parents, it is hard for us to see beyond that.
The Rahn family operates a centennial farm in northern Illinois that includes row crops, hay production, cattle feeding and a cow-calf herd.
A group raised the roof in rural Will County in northeastern Illinois, but it wasn’t from celebrating the winning goal or rambunctious behavior. A team from FBi Buildings was raising the roof of a 60-by-200-foot barn for Everett Hauert.
From a window atop my grandfather’s old barn, you can see my family’s whole farm, from the hayfields to the chicken houses to the pasture where the mama cows are grazing.
Hello from Graze-N-Grow. Well, it seems Elton and I missed our deadline last month. I don’t know his excuse, but mine was forgetfulness. I wasn’t really idle, though.
I was just having so much fun with the minus-15 temperatures and 20 mph winds last month that I just forgot to write an article. Well, the last part is true. Things have been mundane around here — unroll hay, break ice and fill water tanks.
Three superior members of the Illinois Agri-Women were honored with awards during the group’s annual meeting.
The CattleFax Outlook Seminar, held as part of the 2024 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in Orlando, shared expert market and weather analysis.
AgriNews and Beck’s are proud to announce the 2024 Indiana Farm Family of the Year — the Muegge family of M5 Family Farms in Hancock County.
AI is all the buzz these days. But artificial insemination is not the AI getting all the attention these days. The AI most are talking about and experimenting with is artificial intelligence.
We couldn’t have asked for much better weather this past month, considering the time of year it is. The majority of days starts out in the mid-20s and get into the mid-40s. No extremes either way.
The program “Pasture Management: Recovering from 2023,” hosted by University of Illinois Extension, will focus on recovering from the drought and short forage supply in three evening sessions.
Maybe you can’t tell the difference between 15 and 32 degrees after spending a few minutes outside, but your cattle can.
Wool season is here in northern Illinois. Those wool socks, wool blankets, sweaters, gloves and mittens are so comfortable. Wool is a remarkable natural fiber. The website www.americanwool.org has a lot of resources to help with wool promotion.
It’s been great so far this December to do chores without having to break the ice on the energy-free waterers we use here. Pretty much all fieldwork has been done by now around here.
‘Tis the season to give, so I gave the rams to the ewes. Now everybody’s happy. I should start lambing about mid-May. Hopefully we will have a lot of green vegetation to graze.
Looking back through past columns, I came across one that hits home 10 years after it was penned. I began: “You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle four things: a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights.”
Kendra Downing has learned how to deal with adverse conditions and as a result won the National FFA agricultural proficiency award for agricultural sales — entrepreneurship.
As contraction of the U.S. cattle herd continues, farmers nearing retirement age are faced with deciding whether to expand again, invest more into infrastructure and whether someone is in line for succession.
Picking up where I left off last month, the Lord has indeed blessed us with another great month. For the most part, things have been going very well. The weather has been good.
After completing his training to become a radio technician for the U.S. Army, David Boelkens had orders to go to Hawaii, but when he got to California his orders were changed to Vietnam.
The impact of drought conditions across much of the Corn Belt on crops and water transportation were a common theme in the Federal Reserve’s recent survey.
Sitting in a large tent sponsored by Syngenta, their company logo on the screen behind her, Chris Chinn, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, offered up some food for thought on the current China challenge.
For once I have no complaints on the weather, especially the past couple of weeks. Temperatures have been warm, but moderate, now turning to more fall-like. Mix in two nice rains and conditions seem to be quite good.
I imagine some of you have started harvest by now. Not me, though, but that’s normal. Our double-crop beans are getting really thirsty since we’ve only had a third of an inch of rain in over six weeks.
What began as an independent research project as a senior at Illinois State University has transformed into a career centered on on-farm trials that use an “outside-the-box” approach to crop production.
Scott Halpin, state executive director of the Farm Service Agency in Illinois, announced that four additional counties are authorized for emergency haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve Program acres.
Scott Halpin, state executive director of the Farm Service Agency in Illinois, announced that 89 counties are authorized for emergency haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve Program acres for fiscal year 2023.
Well, I think we may have a crop after all. I hope everyone got their much-needed rain by now. Since I plant later than most, none of my crop had seen any rain except a couple half-tenth events until the end of June.
After working eight- to 10-hour shifts at their full-time jobs, the Smolkovich brothers converged to do chores at their cattle operation Monday evening.
I wrote last month that if we didn’t receive rain soon, then before long we would be in a drought. Well, sure enough, that’s where we are now. Since my last writing, we have only had a couple of small showers.
The Southwest continues to endure a “megadrought,” a term used to describe drought conditions lasting at least two decades.
Four outstanding FFA students were selected as State Stars at the 94th annual Indiana FFA State Convention.
An impending drought could result in inadequate forage yield for cattle in parts of Indiana. “Many have experienced drier than normal weather,” said Ron Lemenager, Purdue Extension beef specialist.
Years of working on FFA projects resulted in four FFA members selected as Star winners during 95th annual Illinois Association FFA State Convention.
The history of Smolkovich farms has a direct connection with the coal boom about 16 miles north that continued into the early 20th century.