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It is certainly sad to see that kind of suffering and death. My thoughts on how to mitigate the situation is neither cheap nor easy. I would look at the solutions as broken into long term achievement and shorter term. In the longer term I think producers need to utilize cattle genetics from...

This is an area that research and data are sorely needed. While great strides have been made in eliminating the historical system of wheat/tillage fallow rotation, to wheat/dryland corn/millet/chem fallow, we need data information on actual yield responses to use of cover crops after harvest of...

I agree that with shifting wind directions, circular planting would give protection regardless of the wind direction. And on varying direction of slope, it would help to control water runoff better than just one directional buffer strips. The biggest obstacle to creating circular buffer...

I am impressed with the concept. It is something like this that we really need this year with the dry, windy conditions we have been experiencing. The dirt and dust have been blowing so bad that the DOT has had to close highways due the poor conditions. A few years ago, some conservationists...

I guess I was lucky in knowing I wanted to be in agriculture since I was about 5 years old, helping my Dad milk cows and doing chores. I never went through a period like many young people coming of age of trying to find myself. I just knew I loved the agriculture lifestyle and all (well most...

I haven't used coir in a starting mix per se, but several years ago a green house in a neighboring town grew tomatoes in coir. But apparently, they could only use the material once, then had to get a new batch because of potential disease carry over. We were able to get the used material for...

I have a three-shank home built ripper that will rip down to about 18 inches. I don't particularly like the job it does as it tends to disturb the soil surface a lot. From what I have learned, a yeoman plow would be better, but they are pretty scarce to find. And I don't know if they are...

Always up for a good experiment. :D

This bare strip is on a generally level plane with the rest of the field. It does slope down some from the top of the field to the bottom, but not exceedingly so. The water does not pool on this strip, but the snow does drift on there next to the trees. The soil is absolutely dry as the water...

This is kind of opposite of the title topic, but I have a strip of ground that is about 20 feet wide and runs the length of a row of cedar trees that nothing will grow on. Early on after planting the trees, I had good success growing cover/forage crops. When I first noticed it, the bare strip...

Oh yes, I have to agree! 😋

Great analogy Linda. We so often see someone who isn't acting like their normal selves, and we just attribute it to them just being out of sorts and let it go at that. If we could learn to read body language as well as our dogs do, it would teach us a lot about how others are doing.

Here is a picture of my pasture.

I have found that using a weed barrier is very important in getting seedlings to survive in our semi-arid climate. It helps if drip irrigation can also be established, but if that isn't feasible, even just hauling water and giving each one a drink once a week or so really helps. Some folks...