Utilizing winter cover crops for hay and corn production allows you to realize soil conservation benefits while increasing dry matter production per acre. Proper cover crop management in the spring can ensure the subsequent corn crop is successful, as well.

Utilizing winter cover crops for hay and silage production allows you to realize soil conservation benefits while increasing dry matter production per acre. Proper cover crop management in the spring can ensure the subsequent corn crop is successful, as well.

Harvesting corn for silage leaves little plant residue on the ground to help control water runoff and soil erosion. A cover crop either interseeded before or planted immediately after silage harvest will help protect the soil from wind and heavy rains. An established cover crop also helps improve soil structure and uptake of nutrients.

When a spring alfalfa seeding has failed due to wet soils, weather, disease problems or unexpected herbicide carryovers, or when an older stand is deemed unproductive, late summer planting allows a grower to establish alfalfa fields with a good chance for success, sometimes with better odds than spring seeding.

Since the adoption of corn hybrids with biotechnology traits, growers have continued to see more consistent 200-bushel-plus corn crops in past seasons. However, increased yields have created the challenge of dealing with increased levels of residue when planting next year’s crop.

Excessive rainfall can accelerate stem canker development in soybean fields, causing devastating yield reductions of up to 90 percent. Effective field management and surveillance practices can preserve crop health.

Each year, alfalfa stands risk being injured or killed by cold temperatures, ice sheets or heaving. Evaluating alfalfa stands for winter injury is crucial to crop rotation decisions.

As alfalfa stands age and thin, production can drop. Typically fields begin to decline in their third year of production. Field evaluation helps identify less profitable fields that need to be targeted for replacement.

In Midwest alfalfa fields, potato leafhoppers can cause significant problems for alfalfa growers by reducing yield, quality and stand longevity. Scouting alfalfa stands for these pests is crucial to alleviating future headaches.

Weed control is a bigger challenge in mixed forage crops than in monoculture. Overcome the challenge with proper stand establishment and aggressive management.