The latest thinking on alfalfa seeding, stand life, and boosting nutrient quality

 Hay and Forage Grower reported this winter on research from South Dakota State University that says many of us are using more seed per acre than marginal yields justify.    In this study it was found that seeding rates as low as 12.5 pounds per acre generated the highest yields, or 9.6 tons of dry hay per acre over two years.    (These yields were made in drought conditions.)   

For conditions around the Great Lakes, the best yield strategy appears to be:   seed 12 to 16 lbs of alfalfa seed with 2 lbs red clover (14 to 18 lbs total) in the establishment year.    Follow this with an overseeding of high energy grass in the second or third year of stand life, which will aid in maintaining peak yields for an additional two years, resisting weed incursions.    

The Dairy Industry lost a stalwart friend

 Ron Sersland of Reedsburg, Wisconsin, principal owner of  International Protein Sires,  passed away tragically in a collision between his pickup and a semi-tractor-trailer late this winter.   He was only 63 years old, having begun his career as a foreign market representative for Tri-State Breeders Cooperative, forming his own export company Our Help, Inc and later purchasing the IPS brand name and bull stud from its founders Marlowe Nelson and Alvin Piper  (pioneers in exporting midwestern Holstein genetics to Europe and South America).

The tragedy in this is that, as Ron still felt young, the issues of business succession were not formally completed  (his stepson, Eric Taylor, was active in the management of the business)  and so the attorneys have managed the estate in a manner that has led to liquidation.

Those of us who were Ron’s friends and acted as his distributors are disappointed by this, and we at Mich Livestock Service have acted to secure a working inventory of the IPS sires we most favored as we work out this transition in our genetic focus.    There is a likelihood that a new AI marketing system, supported by the many breeders who provided sires for IPS, will be formed.    We have committed our experience to encourage this group so his concepts will carry on.