Some of our fields looked really scruffy, like stands of forgotten, overgrown brush that had given up the ghost and turned that pale, beige color of dead foliage we become so familiar with, and bored of, through the long months of winter. Only the early signs of small, emerging spikes of greenery in rows suggested that the fields had not been forgotten. Read more in this article from Lancaster Farming.

Many local producers harvested their cereal rye or other winter small grain crops as baleage or haylage. However, some farmers still are looking forward to harvesting those crops for grain and making some much-needed straw as well. Read more in this article from The Daily Record (Wooster, OH).

Soil is more than just dirt. It is a living substance and when balanced, exchanges nutrients, stores and drains water, and provides a healthy environment for crops and forages to produce realistic yield expectations (RYE). Read more in this article from the Sun Journal (New Bern, NC).

Livestock market complications that reduce calf sales can cause unexpected forage demands. Droughts can compound the problem leading to forage deficiencies, while forage shortages can cause poor animal performance, overgrazed and degraded pastures, and increased expenses. Read more in this article from Southeast AgNet.

Summer is nearing its end and it is time to plant cover crops. Extension agronomist Sjoerd Duiker says many cover crops need to be planted early to derive the substantial benefits. Read more in this article from Lancaster Farming.

The grants are designed to help partners implement and evaluate innovative approaches that have demonstrated conservation benefits on farmland. These conservation practices are sorely needed on Alabama farms for several reasons, said Rishi Prasad, assistant professor and Alabama Extension specialist in the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences and leader of the research project. Read more in this article from Southeast AgNet.

According to a recent survey, Indiana farmers planted 950,000 acres of cover crops in 2019. Cover crops are known for their environmental benefits and, with the exception of corn and soybeans, are planted on more acres than any other commodity crop in Indiana.

Populations of true armyworm (Mythimna unipuncta) exceeding economic thresholds have been reported in Minnesota. Be sure to scout corn that was planted into a grass cover crop or where dense grassy weeds were controlled post-emerge. Read more in this article from the Faribault Daily News (Faribault, MN).

The university, in partnership, with the University of California at Davis; University of Minnesota; The Organic Center in Washington, D.C.; and the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Maryland, were collectively awarded a nearly $1 million grant to “investigate the benefits of livestock integration through cover-crop grazing on bacterial population dynamics, food safety, and soil and environmental health,” said Dr. Fawzy Hashem, a research associate professor in the university’s Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences. Read more in this article from Lancaster Farming.

As ranchers continue with the struggle to find more grazing land to expand their livestock operations, more are looking into growing cover crops for grazing or renting cover crop land from neighboring farmers. Greg Rasmussen started planting cover crops on a piece of farm ground north of Boelus, Neb., several years ago, in an effort to stop soil erosion and improve soil health. Read more in this article from The Fence Post.