Drought Stress Reduces Corn Silage Yield More Than Quality

Drought Stress Reduces Corn Silage Yield More Than Quality by Joe Lauer, Corn Agronomist The middle counties in the southern half of Wisconsin have been affected by drought in 2007. Farmers trying to decide about using drought affected corn fields must first determine success of pollination. If pollination will affect grain yield, then growers must follow directions […]

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Planting Corn in June and July! – What can you expect?

Planting Corn in June and July! – What can you expect? by Joe Lauer, Corn Agronomist Unprecedented rainfall continues to cause flooding and ponding leading to problems for corn establishment on 5 to 10% of planted acres in southern Wisconsin. Flooded and ponded areas have existed long enough now so that plants have been killed and areas […]

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A Bright Future for Grasses

A Bright Future for Grasses by Michael Casler and Dan Undersander1 Introduction The grazing movement is, both literally and figuratively, a grass-roots movement. Many livestock producers in the northern USA have recently moved from predominantly confinement feeding systems to grazing systems. Most of them use some form of management-intensive rotational grazing in which livestock are periodically rotated from […]

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Digestion Kinetics of Forages

Digestion Kinetics of Forages by D.K. Combs1, E.P. Beyer-Neumann1,2, M.T. Rodriques, D.J. Undersander2 and P.C. Hoffman1 Departments of Dairy Science1 and Agronomy2 University of Wisconsin-Madison As cattle are fed for higher levels of production it becomes more important to define nutrient requirements in increasingly sophisticated terms. The National Research Council (NRC, 1989) has established requirements for NEL, […]

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Forage Quality and Feeding Management for Eastern Gamagrass in Wisconsin

Forage Quality and Feeding Management for Eastern Gamagrass in Wisconsin by Wayne K. Coblentz1, Patrick C. Hoffman2, Nancy M. Esser3, and Michael G. Bertram4 1USDA-ARS, US Dairy Forage Research Center, Marshfield 2Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin 3Superintendent, University of Wisconsin Marshfield Agricultural Research Station 4Superintendent, University of Wisconsin Arlington Agricultural Research Station Introduction Throughout Wisconsin, chopped straw […]

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Management and Production Potential for Eastern Gamagrass in Wisconsin

Management and Production Potential for Eastern Gamagrass in Wisconsin by Wayne K. Coblentz1, Michael G. Bertram2, Patrick C. Hoffman3, and Nancy M. Esser4 1USDA-ARS, US Dairy Forage Research Center, Marshfield 2Superintendent, University of Wisconsin Arlington Agricultural Research Station 3Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin 4Superintendent, University of Wisconsin Marshfield Agricultural Research Station Introduction Eastern gamagrass [Tripsacum dactyloides […]

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Frost Seeding of Forages

Frost Seeding of Forages by Dan Undersander, University of Wisconsin Frost seeding is broadcasting forage seed onto the ground surface while the ground is still frozen in the spring.  The principle is that repeated freezing and thawing of the soil surface causes surface cracks in the soil which allow seed incorporation. Frost Seeding of Forages Farmers have […]

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Frost Seeding Forages into Established Pastures

The fundamental principle behind frost seeding is that alternating freezing and thawing, along with spring rains, will help to incorporate the broadcast seed into the soil surface. Frost seeding of legumes and grasses can be used by graziers as a means to improve pasture yields or change forage species composition within the pasture without complete […]

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