While legume longevity can be improved through grazing and fertility management, it is a common practice to reseed legumes every few years. This is often achieved by interseeding into established pastures by no-till drilling or frost-seeding. Each method has unique benefits and drawbacks.
The fourth Focus on Forage webinar in the 2025 series, Focus on the Alfalfa Toolbox, features research-based tools and resources for Wisconsin forage growers.
The third Focus on Forage webinar in the 2025 series, Focus on Forage Cover Crops, features research-based resources and management strategies to keep forage systems productive over time.
The second Focus on Forage webinar in the 2025 series, Focus on Corn Silage, features research-based corn silage resources and management strategies to keep fields productive over time.
The first Focus on Forage webinar in the 2025 series, Focus on Alfalfa Companions, features research-based alfalfa establishment resources and new management strategies to keep stands productive over time.
In 2023, a grazing farmer network in northwestern Wisconsin was asked to identify the greatest needs for research. At the top of their list was the practice of winter bale grazing. We designed a research project that sought to answer some of their questions about the practice.
This fact sheet was designed to walk you through that decision-making process and assist you in selecting forage species that are compatible with your farm and complimentary to each other. While there are many great seed mixes that are commercially available, this resource is intended to empower farmers to develop an establishment plan that fits their objectives and design a seed mix that is tailored to their farm.
By following these guidelines, farmers growing, storing and feeding corn silage can minimize the risks posed by mycotoxins and ensure a healthier, more productive livestock feed supply.
In 2024, grain and silage performance trials were planted at 12 locations in four production zones: the southern, south central, north central, and northern zones. The purpose of these trials is to provide unbiased performance comparisons of hybrid seed corn for grain and silage available in Wisconsin.
As more farmers have now grown up in the age of computers and software development, we are starting to see an increase in open-source projects related to agriculture. Open-source software (OSS) is a software product for which the code is freely available to the public to use or modify.
Similar to corn stover removal, impacts on soil health include nutrient removal and residue removal, grazing corn stalks should also consider soil compaction. Nutrients removed from a field when corn stalks are grazed are much lower than most farmers think
Stover is the stalks, leaves, husks, and cobs left after corn grain harvest. Removing corn stover removes valuable nutrients from the field and increases the potential for soil crusting, erosion, and—long term—reduced water infiltration rates due to reduced soil organic matter levels.
