Role of Information and Information Providers in Technology Transfer

Technology transfer is an essential component of economic change in society. Developers of new technology often fail to realize that there is a science to technology transfer. This lack of appreciation for the skills involved in information dissemination and in activities necessary to affect a change of action in an audience often severely limits the rate and amount of technology transfer that occurs. Significant differences exist between doing a news release or writing a publication and causing audience acceptance of a new technology. The old standards of expecting adoption of a new technology simply because it “will profit farmers” or because it is tested and recommended by “revered” public researchers has not been, and will not be sufficient to cause acceptance. Instead it is necessary to consider the audience and how its concerns relate to technology adoption, how audiences learn (which varies with different audiences), and match the presentation methods to the learning preferences of the specific audience

What to Do With Failed Seedings of Alfalfa

Because of the wet and cloudy conditions in 1993, many alfalfa seedings either had excessive seedling death to result in thin stands or remained stunted with little growth and forage yield

What\u27s New in Forage Equipment?

The forage equipment industry is changing in response to farmers’ needs. These changes consist of innovations to increase capacity, to improve the usability of the machine, and to improve the quality of the product. Most changes are occurring with existing equipment, but some totally new product innovations are occurring

Hay Drying, Preservatives, Conditioning, Ash Content

Drying forage for hay has always been a challenge. While we cannot control the weather we can manage cut forage to maximize drying. The purpose of this paper is to give a few principles of hay and silage making and discuss machinery available relative to these principles. Then we will also talk about minimizing ash in hay to optimize the total digestible nutrients of the forage

Alternative Forage Crops

Farmers this year have two reasons for asking about alternate crops. The first is for use as an emergency forage when stands or new seedings of perennial forages fail and the second is as a long term alternative to alfalfa. Before beginning this paper, we should put things into perspective by stating that alfalfa is still the best choice, in most cases, for long term production of high quality, high tonnage harvested forage. We also expect to see increased use of corn silage, where topography and farm plans permit in dairy rations, in the alfalfa-based rations

Forage Yield and Economic Losses Associated with the Brown-Midrib Trait in Sudangrass

Brown-midrib genes increase digestibility due to reduced lignification in sudangrass, Sorghum bicolor subsp. drummondii (Nees ex Steud.) de Wet & Harlan. Brown-midrib lines are known to be low in forage yield potential, but this reduction in forage yield has not been previously quantified. The objectives of this study were to quantify the increase in forage quality and decrease in forage yield and to provide an economic assessment of this dichotomy. Piper and Greenleaf (normal leaves) were compared with their brown-midrib counterparts and four highly selected brown-midrib (FG) lines at two locations for 2 yr. Brown-midrib lines averaged 9.0% lower in lignin and 7.2% higher in in vitro fiber digestibility than normal lines. The reduction in first-harvest forage yield was highly variable across germplasms and locations. Greenleaf and the FG lines showed severe forage yield reductions in Wisconsin but not in Nebraska, whereas forage yield of Piper was uniformly reduced across locations. Reduced tillering and plant height of the brown-midrib plants appeared to be mechanisms for reducing forage yield. The brown-midrib phenotype of sudangrass, caused by the homozygous condition of the bmr-6 allele, appears to be environmentally sensitive, particularly limiting production in cooler and shorter growing seasons. Conversely, uniform reductions in second-harvest forage yield suggested a fundamental limitation to regrowth potential associated with the brown-midrib phenotype. Predicted net returns from feeding sudangrass hay were similar for first-harvest normal and brown-midrib lines, but severely depressed for brown-midrib lines in second harvest, due to the severe yield reductions

Forage Yield and Economic Losses Associated with the Brown-Midrib Trait in Sudangrass

Brown-midrib genes increase digestibility due to reduced lignification in sudangrass, Sorghum bicolor subsp. drummondii (Nees ex Steud.) de Wet & Harlan. Brown-midrib lines are known to be low in forage yield potential, but this reduction in forage yield has not been previously quantified. The objectives of this study were to quantify the increase in forage quality and decrease in forage yield and to provide an economic assessment of this dichotomy. Piper and Greenleaf (normal leaves) were compared with their brown-midrib counterparts and four highly selected brown-midrib (FG) lines at two locations for 2 yr. Brown-midrib lines averaged 9.0% lower in lignin and 7.2% higher in in vitro fiber digestibility than normal lines. The reduction in first-harvest forage yield was highly variable across germplasms and locations. Greenleaf and the FG lines showed severe forage yield reductions in Wisconsin but not in Nebraska, whereas forage yield of Piper was uniformly reduced across locations. Reduced tillering and plant height of the brown-midrib plants appeared to be mechanisms for reducing forage yield. The brown-midrib phenotype of sudangrass, caused by the homozygous condition of the bmr-6 allele, appears to be environmentally sensitive, particularly limiting production in cooler and shorter growing seasons. Conversely, uniform reductions in second-harvest forage yield suggested a fundamental limitation to regrowth potential associated with the brown-midrib phenotype. Predicted net returns from feeding sudangrass hay were similar for first-harvest normal and brown-midrib lines, but severely depressed for brown-midrib lines in second harvest, due to the severe yield reductions

Influence of Aphanomyces Root Rot on Alfalfa Health and Forage Yields

Maximum alfalfa performance is achieved when grown on deep, well drained soils, while severe stand and yield losses can occur on soils that are imperfectly drained (Wing, 1909; Alva et al., 1985). In Wisconsin, nearly half of all forage production is on soils that are classified as somewhat poorly drained