Producer Features

Jim Howard of Nebraska is a full-time life insurance salesman and a minister for a small local church. But on the side he puts up prairie hay. “I look to cut hay in places where most people wouldn’t put it up. If I can drive my tractor there, I can put up hay there,” Howard says.

What is the most important part of alfalfa production?
“The harvest because that is when most things go wrong.

As long-time stewards of the environment, farmers have always worked to produce quality products while taking care to preserve the quality of their resources for the next year and next generation.

An interview with Glenn Shewmaker, Forage Extension Specialist, University of Idaho

Q. What is your background in forages?

What crops gain the most with alfalfa rotations?
“We are primarily in dry-land country, so we use alfalfa in rotation with our wheat acres. It has been great as a soil-builder in addition to providing cheap nitrogen.

Gary Vermeer, founder and chairman emeritus of Vermeer Corporation in Pella, Iowa, died February 2 at the Comfort House of Pella. He was 90 years old.