Producer Features

In the hearts of many young producers is the drive to prove to their predecessors that they have what it takes to lead the next generation of agriculture.

Hinz Farms’ nutrient application system has been a work in progress. Year by year, co-owners Mike and Ben Hinz have tried new tools to increase the efficiency of spreading manure to fertilize the next year’s corn crop. This year, they are using an automated system that varies the ground speed of application based on the weight of the manure as it is spread.

The winning forage at World Forage Analysis Superbowl in Madison, Wisconsin, in the Quality Counts Award (hay/haylage category) was a new low-lignin variety of alfalfa grown by Joe and Alice Berney of Berney Ranch Inc. from Okanogan, Washington.

Heidel Hollow Farm, a fourth-generation family farm in Germansville, Pennsylvania, hosted a tour and equipment demonstrations for the National Hay Association 2015 convention. David Fink, owner of Heidel Hollow with his wife, Sonja, is the 2015 National Hay Association president.

The children of Israel marked time and set their calendars based upon one defining event – the exodus from Egypt. Later, Christians tracked events and set their calendars based on the birth of Christ. Civilizations throughout history have marked time from one defining event or another. For David and Carolyn Carrier, the defining event upon which they compare everything else in their lives was the economy crash of the 1980s.

Alfalfa growing conditions at Gary Knutson’s northeast South Dakota farm are less than ideal. However, since he raises registered Black Angus cattle on 100 percent forage.