Search for “small grains”

Darrell Steele, a member in Washington County, has gotten the cover crop itch and started with a typical cover crop of cereal rye on his corn and soybean farm where he raises hogs too. After attending a soil health workshop he wanted to test out extreme-cover cropping and is beginning to grow “sexy” diverse cover […]

One of the keys to profitably integrating small grains into a corn and soybean rotation is keeping input costs low in the small grains year. While input costs such as fertilizer and herbicides are significant, perhaps one of the most substantial production costs, aside from land, is the equipment used to plant and harvest the […]

Willie Hughes and family welcomed a diverse group of field day attendees on July 12th to his family’s farm operation of 4700 acres outside of Janesville, WI with these words, “Today we will not see beautiful stands of conventional and organic corn and soybeans but visit the front lines of sustainability: small grains, cover crops […]

Small grains harvest is already underway in parts of Iowa and beyond, and some fields are still weeks away from being ready. On July 6 Earl Canfield hosted our small grains conference call. Earl shared ways to maintain the quality of small grains while harvesting. He discussed his specialized equipment and swathing technique for oats […]

On June 28 about 50 folks gathered in a church just west of Bedford in southwest Iowa to learn about small grains production; malting and brewing beer; and proper grazing management in pastures and cover crops. Our agenda was packed with speakers ranging from farmers to home brewers to extension agronomists – headed up by […]

Oats as a feed grain for pigs is nothing new, yet many producers are concerned over the high fiber content and low test weight.  Well-balanced small grain-based diets can perform as well as corn- and soy-based diets, especially when oats are dehulled and fed to gestating sows. Nutritional Quality and Health Benefits of Oats Nutritionally, […]

“Since the last people to grow small grains in this area were our grandparents or our great-grandparents a lot of small grains production [knowledge] seems like it’s through story telling. Some people say, well I’ve heard from my grandfather, that if you let small grains go down, it means they have a higher test weight. […]

It seems like breweries, both large and small, are getting creative with their products. Consumers are more and more interested in finding unique-tasting products and some are seeking out the locally-sourced brews. So, how do breweries source their ingredients to make a tasty end product? And how can farmers find ways to tap into these […]

Are you growing rye or winter wheat for grain or seed this year? What’s the plan after your harvest? If you’re looking to add nitrogen for a 2019 corn crop, now might be the time to think about frost seeding red clover into that rye or wheat in late February. The research is clear: if […]

On August 17, nearly 80 people gathered in Ames to attend our first conference focused exclusively on small grains. We opened with lunch and a keynote from Don Halcomb, the chairman of the Kentucky Small Grain Promotion Council, sharing the history of how growers in Kentucky came together to create a small grains association and a […]