Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Marketing Alfalfa Hay: What The Consumer Demands, Tom Keene

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Anytime we address selling a product to the consumer; our first objective should always be to sell a quality product. However before we get into quality, I think we need to back up and understand that quality can vary from customer to customer depending upon the type of livestock he is feeding. For instance, if you are selling hay to a dairy operation, how is the hay being utilized? Is it being fed free choice? Is it going into a milking TMR (total mixed ration)? Is it going to feed young stock, breeding heifers, or sick animals? Each group of …

How I Produce And Market Alfalfa Hay, John Nowak

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

John Nowak was born March 22, 1947, in New York City and was raised in Westchester County, just north of New York City. After graduating from Colorado State University with a B.S. degree in farm and ranch management, he entered the U.S. Army. John served on active duty from 1969 until 1978. In 1975, his Army career brought him to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and he began farming part-time in Christian County in 1976. As with many "start-from-scratch" farmers, John's first farming efforts involved producing burley tobacco during the years 1976 through 1979. In 1979, he began a cow-calf and backgrounding …

Grazing Alfalfa, Garry D. Lacefield, Jimmy C. Henning

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Alfalfa is a high yielding, high quality, deep-rooted, versatile forage legume well adapted throughout the U.S. Gains per animal and per acre can be excellent with acceptable stand persistence when present technology is used. Is grazing alfalfa right for everyone? No. Is grazing alfalfa right for you? Only you can answer that question. This presentation attempts to give you information that will hopefully help you with that answer.

What I Have Learned From 4 Years Of Alfalfa Grazing Tolerance Variety Trials, Jimmy C. Henning, Robert Spitaleri, Garry D. Lacefield, Charles T. Dougherty

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

There has been interest in alfalfa varieties that would tolerate grazing for some time. The spreading type alfalfas (such as Rambler, Spredor 2, Travois) have long been generally promoted as being tolerant of grazing. Over the years, most selection for tolerance to grazing was done using frequent clipping to simulate grazing.

Studies conducted at the University of Georgia in the 1980's found that alfalfa varieties performed differently when grazed frequently compared to clipping frequently. This line of research eventually led to the release of 'AlfaGraze' alfalfa which was the first variety ever to be selected primarily by overgrazing by livestock. …

Practical And Economical Ways To Increase Alfalfa Hay Drying Rates, Michael Collins

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Hay stores well for long periods and is better suited to cash sale and transportation than silage and remains the most popular method for harvesting the alfalfa crop. Rapid drying reduces field losses by reducing respiration and by reducing the incidence of rain damage during curing. Because of these factors, harvest losses are greatest for very dry forage and are low for very wet material like direct cut silage. However, the latter is subject to excessive storage losses due to seepage and to quality deterioration. Storage losses are generally minimized by harvesting at low moisture levels.

Alfalfa Following Alfalfa: What Works And What Doesn't Work?, Monroe Rasnake

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Farmers often would like to go directly back into alfalfa when an old stand plays out. However, research has shown that it is often difficult to get new stands established when this is done. Some of the problems may be attributed to weeds, insects and diseases that build up over time and become difficult to control. Another reason is that alfalfa plants have been shown to produce chemical compounds that can inhibit germination and growth of new seedlings. This effect is called allelopathy or autotoxicity.

Secrets To Getting A Good Stand Of Alfalfa, Jimmy C. Henning, Garry D. Lacefield

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Getting a good stand of alfalfa quickly is very important to Kentucky because it is the highest yielding, highest quality forage crop. In addition, it can be used in many different ways. Cool wet springs and hot dry falls have caused alfalfa seedings to fail in recent years. It would be easy to begin to believe that there was some 'magic' step or ingredient that has been missing. There are no magic steps to getting a good stand. Attention to a few major details can help maximize your chances of success.

What Grasses Work Best With Alfalfa?, Timothy D. Phillips

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Alfalfa is the "queen" of forages, but many situations exist where it is desirable or necessary to grow alfalfa in a mixture with a forage grass rather in monoculture. Some of the reasons to grow grass with alfalfa are: improved yield (in terms of tons of dry matter produced), better seasonal yield distribution, better weed control, potential pest reduction, erosion prevention, bloat risk reduction, and accelerated hay-drying rates. Conversely, there are some factors that favor alfalfa monoculture. These include: lower forage quality, especially in terms of protein content; more difficult management requirements (herbicide use, fertilization, and harvest timing); and, lower …

Foreword [1999], Garry D. Lacefield

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

This is the front matter of the proceedings.