September 1, 2024

September 1, 2024 Progressive Forage digital magazine

August 30, 2024

Forage Market Insights: Slow simmer to fall

August 26, 2024

With more and more new crop being produced, the hay market is simmering with slow demand and slower trade happening across the country.

Surface protection in natural resource leases

The ownership of the surface estate and the ownership of the mineral estate can be severed. As natural resource production ramps up across the nation, more and more cattle producers are feeling the impact. Learn how to protect your rights.

July 30, 2024

Jordan Simmons Hayes

If you own or lease any amount of rural land for livestock or crop production, then you have likely encountered obstacles arising from the division of the surface and mineral estates and the impact that can have on your use of the land.

How to start holding consistent, productive farm meetings with a purpose

Effective meetings can improve communication, provide clear direction, set or shift priorities, review production and financial records, and set strategies for improvement.

July 22, 2024

Joy Kirkpatrick

You never hear someone say they love farming because they love sitting in a meeting room talking about business. They will probably say they’d rather be doing anything else – with animals, crops, machinery, you name it – than sitting in meetings.

Mixing grasses and legumes to create more productive pastures

The increased fixed nitrogen, greater herbage mass, improved CP content, better digestibility and greater ability to meet nutritional needs make adding these versatile forages to your existing pasture grass an option worth considering.

August 9, 2024

Sawyer Fonnesbeck

Those in the cattle industry have come to understand the term “hybrid vigor” and how it benefits the health, growth and stamina of our livestock. Many of the same things can be said for our pastures.

Invest in quality and tonnage to maximize on-farm forage use

August 14, 2024

Lauryn Krentz

Maximizing homegrown forages is appealing to many dairy producers, especially as they face tough market conditions.

Alfalfa and the wrangle for Western water

Alfalfa, a high water-consuming crop, plays a crucial economic role in Idaho's agriculture, providing benefits such as soil health and supporting the dairy industry despite criticism over its water usage.

August 15, 2024

Julia McCarthy

With agriculture using more than 40% of total U.S. freshwater withdrawals in 2015 and hay and forage crops weighing in at 37% of U.S. irrigation water use, environmental groups and the media have been known to blast alfalfa producers for excessive water use.

Alfalfa genetics and management techniques that extend stand life

The longevity and profitability of an alfalfa field depend on maintaining a stand density above six plants per square foot, influenced by genetics, initial density and management practices that minimize plant stress.

August 13, 2024

Donald Miller

When a producer plants an alfalfa field, there is an expectation that the field will remain productive for several years. Alfalfa is a perennial crop but there is a limit to its longevity, since all alfalfa fields naturally thin over time.

The advantages of alfalfa: The queen of forages and her court

Alfalfa's “queen's court” of benefits extends far and wide, offering exceptional nutritional profiles, soil enrichment, economic advantages and environmental sustainability.

August 7, 2024

Emily Meccage

Alfalfa, often crowned the “queen of forages,” has long reigned supreme in the world of agriculture, commanding respect and admiration from hay producers and dairy farmers alike.

Practicing silage safety is priceless

Training employees on key safety practices, maintaining machine safety guards to prevent entanglement, managing the structural integrity of silage bunkers, and being aware of the hazards of silo gases can improve safety while chopping and packing silage.

August 9, 2024

Kasey Hower

There are six main hazards when it comes to silage: 1) complacency and fatigue, 2) entanglement by machinery, 3) rollover by machinery, 4) fall from heights, 5) crushing by silage avalanche or collapse, and 6) silo gases. By regularly taking safety precautions at each of these hazard points, we can ensure that our farm workers return home safely at the end of the day.

How much does water cost?

Do you know the moisture content of your feed? That knowledge could mean the difference between red and black on your operation’s bottom line.

July 12, 2024

Jason M. Warner

“Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting.” While the applicability of this quote varies based on the context in which it is used, it highlights the fact that water is a precious and valuable resource.

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Can your soil cash your forage’s checks?

Forage production is an intensive remover of soil nutrients and needs intensive management.

August 13, 2024

Dustin Sawyer

It may seem simplistic to analogize soil with a checkbook, but it works and is more apt than perceived. Matter can be neither created nor destroyed. It’s a simple truth that drives everything in the universe and holds true in the soil as it does in the cosmos – giving rise to the soil nutrient balance.

7 best practices to stay safe around farm equipment

Engaging in proactive activities to promote best practices like these on the farm will help ensure you operate safely and keep your crew and equipment out of danger.

August 19, 2024

Aaron Booth

Farm safety is often top of mind in our industry and especially in the fall. Not only is it the busy harvest season, but The National Education Center for Agriculture Safety recognizes National Farm Safety and Health Week, this year from Sept. 15-21.

Irons in the Fire: Miracles and rays

July 31, 2024

Paul Marchant

Summer was rolling along. We’d flown by the solstice so quickly I didn’t even recognize it before it was a few days behind me in the rearview mirror.

Equipment Hub: Evaluating farm equipment for sale

Before you bid on used farm equipment, discover how some buyers end up overpaying by 300% and why certain machinery may be impossible to repair.

January 18, 2018

Andy Overbay

Everyone loves a bargain. No surprise there, but there can be many unpleasant surprises when purchasing equipment at auction. Being “surprised” by your recent barn find is never the object of the buyer’s affection, so let’s take a few minutes to talk about some common ways to reduce the stress or increase the success rate of bidding on that “new to you” piece of equipment.

Tales of a Hay Hauler: Medic? Mechanic? Magician?

August 28, 2024

Brad Nelson

I spent most of one fall, winter and spring hauling hay for a friend – who lived roughly 850 miles away. This was the same guy I helped move down there – about 100 miles due north of the fabled “Area 51.”

August 2024 new product rollout

August 23, 2024

Check out the August 2025 new product rollout.

Won't you be my neighbor?

August 29, 2024

Joy Hendrix

We’ve been told since we were kids how important it is to choose good friends. Friends who lift, support and encourage us, and farmers know that no one understands the struggles we face more than other farmers.

Our Publications

Progressive Forage

September 1, 2024

Digital edition

September 1, 2024 Progressive Forage digital magazine

News & business

Forage Market Insights: Slow simmer to fall

Management

Surface protection in natural resource leases

How to start holding consistent, productive farm meetings with a purpose

Topic articles

Mixing grasses and legumes to create more productive pastures

Invest in quality and tonnage to maximize on-farm forage use

Alfalfa and the wrangle for Western water

Alfalfa genetics and management techniques that extend stand life

The advantages of alfalfa: The queen of forages and her court

Practicing silage safety is priceless

How much does water cost?

Can your soil cash your forage’s checks?

7 best practices to stay safe around farm equipment

Departments

Irons in the Fire: Miracles and rays

Equipment Hub: Evaluating farm equipment for sale

Tales of a Hay Hauler: Medic? Mechanic? Magician?

August 2024 new product rollout

Won't you be my neighbor?

Congress extends farm bill, averts gov't shutdown

The financial condition of Idaho agriculture: 2024

Boost cattle health and performance with sustainable deworming

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