As spring beef calves are beginning to be weaned, it is the producer’s responsibility to help make that transition as smooth as possible. Improper weaning can result in poor growth, which may stay with the animal through its life.

Many cattle operations rely on some type of harvested feed to use in the winter months and common among those sources is forage sorghum, sorghum-sudangrass and sudan. Forages in the sorghum family are prone to two different problems for feeding cattle, nitrate poisoning and prussic acid (hydrocyanic acid, HCN) poisoning. They are easy to get confused because both result in a lack of oxygen availability to the animal and are more likely to occur when the plant is stressed (fertility, hail, drought).

Last Sunday I was in church minding my own business when my occupation came under fire. Our church is without a pastor right now, and we rely on pulpit supply, so the preacher was a guest fill-in. The prayer he had prepared was one promoting environmental justice and in it we prayed to save our world from the overuse of harsh chemicals and the erosion of the soils brought on by agriculture. As you can imagine, that caught my attention.

As a girl, I dreamed of a future family and farm life in somewhat vague terms. However, one aspect was clear: I would not want to marry a dairy farmer because they never go on vacation.

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Goats can eat anything”. A goat is a browsing animal and they will want to check out and see what’s edible. However, I’ve learned firsthand that just because a goat will eat it doesn’t mean it’s safe for them to eat. They can and will die from eating some plants just like cattle and other livestock.

What Your Favorite Cookie Says About You When I was in college, several of us would buy Women’s Day Magazines or one like it and we would find the personality test which was usually about the perfect man we would want for our husband etc. It was entertaining and lots of fun.

Using Drought Stressed Corn as Forage Drought stress is usually the major limitation to forage yields. When drought has compromised tonnage of corn grain, silage producers may retain part of its feeding value.

After a few months of all that summer on the farm entails, the kids have returned to school. From helping with wheat harvest, hauling meals and equipment out to fields, taking naps in the car while helping me complete parts runs, sweeping shop floors, assisting with irrigation duties and making popcorn deliveries, it’s safe to say my kids experienced a healthy dose of farm-kid living during their summer break.

For fastest composting, alternate layers of “greens” and “browns.” Greens are materials with a high amount of nitrogen as compared to carbon. Browns have less nitrogen as compared to carbon. The mixture of the two produces the “just right” amount of carbon and nitrogen to give the microorganisms just what they need to compost quickly. The most common greens are fresh grass clippings, coffee grounds, small weeds, fruit and veggie scraps, plant trimmings and animal manure. The browns would include shredded leaves, sawdust, wood chips, hay, straw, dried grass clippings and prunings from small branches. These materials can be mixed together at the start or layered. If layering, alternate layers of brown materials (6 to 8 inches deep) with green materials (2 to 3 inches thick) until you reach a height of 3 to 5 feet. If green materials are in short supply, add 1 to 2 cups per square yard of a commercial garden fertilizer in place of the green material layer.