Forage Production

This time of year, you potentially have balers, swathers and other equipment utilized in your operation. Many states might be doing campaigns to remind the general public to take it easy around big farm equipment.

In the north-central Louisiana town of Downsville, Malcolm, Melissa and their son Chase Echols are making their mark on forage quality and production.

Regardless of the size of your operation, preventative maintenance goes a long way to ensure your sprayer is ready for the season.

For years, my colleagues and I have been preaching the benefits of cutting our area’s cool-season grass lawns at 4 inches to improve lawn health and control weeds. On the farm, the same logic holds. Leaving more stubble in our hay fields can have similar results.

Okay now, first things first. I do know the difference between “weather” and “whether.” I debated on the misspelling as an attention-getter, and if you’ve gotten this far, it worked! Thus far, 2019 has been an interesting weather year to say the least. My heart goes out to my fellow farmers who have seen cropland besieged by rain.

No more driving to the crest of the hill 4 miles away to find a cellphone signal. No more scratchy half-audible radio transmissions with every other word cutting out.