Feed Prices

No Dryland Crop to Harvest: West Texas Cotton Farmers Open Up About the Harsh Realities of 2023

Mon, 11 Dec 2023 21:19:40 GMT

No matter where you travel in west Texas this year, the story is the same. Drought and heat created an endless battle for area cotton farmers.

“It was a devastating year,” says Casey Jones, a farmer in Lubbock, Texas.

“This is my 49th crop, and it’s been the toughest one to make,” says Bobby Rackler, a farmer in Hockley County, Texas.

Harsh Realities of 2023

The combination of heat and drought dried up hopes of growing a crop this year. Casey Jones’ farm ground is right on the edge of Lubbock, and he says if you ask any area farmer, they’ll tell you the 2023 cotton crop is one those farmers would like to forget.

“I’ve talked to a lot of my farmer friends about that, and it’s one of those years where you tell yourself, ‘Let’s get this one behind us, get it out of the books and let’s get on to a better one,’” says Jones.

Rackler says the challenges continued to mount for the West Texas cotton crop.

“Just everything went against it,” says Rackler. “We had 46 days of over 100 degrees and no humidity.”

Dryland Crop is Nonexistent

Farmers in West Texas didn’t have much of a crop to harvest this year. If a farmer only had dryland acres, they didn’t even have a crop to harvest this year.

“Everyone I’ve talked to is disappointed,” says Racker. “Their yields are way down, some of them lost all of their crop, and they’re not even harvesting.”

Fields that have no irrigation took the brunt of the heat and dryness, as those fields didn’t survive the harsh realities of 2023.

“The dryland is a total failure,” says Rackler. “The irrigated cotton is making a half of what it usually makes. A normal year, our cotton on drip irrigation, will make three bales, but this year it’s only making about a bale and a half.”

Cotton harvest can drag on some years, but not this year. Jones says harvest only lasted eight days. And it’s all because the dismal crop meant farmers had less to harvest.

“I’ve heard farmers across the board say the irrigated ground is about two bales to two and a quarter bales [per acre] on drip. I’ve got some pivots that’ll probably go anywhere between a bale and a half [per acre],” he adds.

Tough Start

The growing season started out extremely dry. When Farm Journal visited with farmers in March , they were still debating whether to plant. Consecutive years of little to no moisture meant subsoil moisture was nonexistent. Add to that severe winds in the late winter and early spring, and any winter cover crop and winter wheat didn’t survive the winter.

“We started off really dry and windy from all the way from February, March and April,” says Jones. “We had heavy sustaining winds of 82 mile-per-hour straight line winds.”

After winds and drought demolished cover crops and winter wheat area farmers planted late last year, they finally saw some rain that ended up delaying planting.

“We had 13 inches rain in May, and we really thought that was going to be it. The rain changed our outlook a little bit to go into a summer that was actually wet,” says Jones.

That relief, however, was extremely short-lived. The weather turned dry and hot, quickly zapping the moisture that came in May.

“We sustained 100-degrees-plus for 60-days-plus,” says Jones. “You have to understand that people don’t do good in 100 degrees, so you can imagine what plants do with limited water. It’s really tough.”

Largest Cotton Patch in the U.S.

The West Texas area is critical for cotton production. USDA shows Texas growers produce 42% of the country’s cotton . The area surrounding Lubbock, Texas, is known as the largest cotton patch in the U.S. And the majority of the cotton crop currently seeing extreme drought conditions is in that key cotton production area.

As cotton prices dropped this year, it’s been puzzling to farmers who are experiencing their worst production year on record. Farmers in West Texas know profits will be slim, but in this area of the country, they’ve learned they still have to protect one of the most precious resources they have.

“We started the first drip in 2008 here because it was a better usage of the water. It has no evaporation. I was skeptical at first, but I found out it does work. And it is stretched our water a lot more,” says Rackler.

Rackler adds that one of his farms had three pivots at one time, pumping 1,200 gallons a minute.

“Now I’m down to 500 gallons on the same well. And it’s just stretching your water further and utilizing it the best way you can,” he says.

The downfall is drip irrigation comes with a hefty cost. It’s double the cost of pivot irrigation systems, yet it’s those investments these farmers hope will pay off longer-term.

“It’s kind of the rule of 10,” says Jones. “You’re going to get several good years in there, you’re going to get a lot of bad years, and you’ve got to make sure to manage those bad years with the good years.”

As farmers reflect back on 2023, they’re surviving the harsh reality of such a trying year. Jones says there’s only one way to summarize the year West Texas farmers just endured.

“Let’s wait for next year,” says Jones with a smile on his face.

U.S. Farm Report and AgDay are hitting the fields to check on cotton harvest progress and yields with the 2023 Cotton Harvest Tour this year, which is sponsored by Deltapine® . The tour is visiting farmers in east-central Texas, Georgia, Tennessee and wrapped up in West Texas.

These Farm Kids Had the Best School Absent Note Excuse

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 20:01:01 GMT

Being a farm kid means that you rise with the sun and head out to the barn to help with chores before school starts. It also means returning home after school to help with evening chores. This is especially true if the farm kid lives on a dairy farm. After all, dairies operate 24/7, 365 days a year.

When kids headed off to school earlier this year, many farm owners quickly realized how much extra help their farm children were. With harvest approaching, the to-do list grows longer and finding extra farm hands is easier said than done.

This was the scenario the ten Hoeve family found themselves in during last year’s silage harvest. Gerben and Julie ten Hoeve’s oldest son, Ian, begged to miss a few days of school to help chop corn on his family’s 650-cow dairy farm earlier this week.

“It is something he looks forward to all year long,” Julie says.

So, when Julie called her son’s high school to report Ian being absent, she worried about what the school would say. The school’s response eased her mind.

“I will mark Ian absent tomorrow for farm work. Thank you for all you do to keep the U.S. running. I appreciate it,” is what the school secretary wrote.

Ian has his own YouTube channel, Automated Farmer (www.youtube.com/c/AutomatedFarmer), where he highlights videos of working on the family’s dairy farm in Waverly, Iowa. From mowing alfalfa and hauling manure to showcasing their newly complete dairy calf barn, the eager teenager lives and breathes everything farming.

It truly is great when school administration and teachers not only understand, but appreciate all the work farm kids do away from the classroom. Students often can miss school for sports, which teaches valuable lessons. But truthfully, it is hard to duplicate the life lessons learned working side-by-side with older generations on a family farm.

This is why I smiled big when my 16-year-old daughter, Cassie, told her basketball coach earlier this spring that she needed to miss practice/conditioning because “the guys needed her help with chopping rye.”

Despite living in the home of John Deere, with thousands of acres of corn all around us, my kids are the only farm kids that attend their school. So, it delighted us when Coach Pav told Cassie this was the best excuse he’d ever heard and excused her from missing basketball practice.

So, here is to the farm kids whose learning goes far beyond the classroom, it stretches to the corn field and to the dairy barns. Thank you to those teachers and staff who realize to feed a nation takes a team. And often farm kids are a huge part of that team.

One Year Later: New Jersey’s Largest Dairy Rebuilds After Being Leveled by Hurricane Ida

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 19:39:27 GMT

On September 1, 2021, cows were being milked and corn had just started getting chopped at Wellacrest Farms, the largest dairy in New Jersey. Around 6 p.m. that evening, as the cows were standing in line waiting their turn to get milked, a tornado touch down in Mullica Hills.

For three generations, Wellacrest Farms, owned by the Eachus family, has been in operation. The farm is home to 600 cows and an equal number of replacements. However, in 60 seconds a tornado spawned from the remnants of Hurricane Ida and completely devasted the family farm.

The Eachus family, who had all taken cover, walked out, shocked by the overwhelming destruction, and somehow through the grace of God, they were able to put one foot in front of the other and went to work.

Their chopper was wrecked, as was other equipment. Debris was all over. Cows were crying. Steel was ripped off barns, including their double-14 parallel parlor, but the actual milking units and wiring still were intact.

“It’s a miracle,” Marianne Eachus says.

A local company brought a generator, helping restore partial power and milking started back up around 1 a.m.

The cows were exhausted and so was the family, but once the generator restored power, the cows came through the parlor, one by one, until they were all milked.

“Everybody continued to get milked, fed and watered and taken care of,” Marianne says.

Earlier that day, Marianne’s husband and son headed to the field and began chopping corn. Only two loads were completed before the tornado came through.

“We didn’t get back to chopping until almost a month later,” Marianne says. “Everything was pushed back.”

A domino of pushbacks continued to this day.

“We had a later wheat crop and we had to hire someone to come and spray because our sprayer got demolished,” she says.

Supply chain headaches delayed getting equipment relocated and made finding supplies to rebuild a challenge. Marianne says that she and her family were already exhausted before the tornado ripped through.

“We had just come off of COVID-19, and thankfully we didn’t have to dump milk, but we were only getting paid for 85% of our milk,” she says. “We had two years of struggling and we had talked about downsizing.”

In addition to milking 600 cows, the Eachus family farms 2,000 acres of crops and owns a 500-acre hay farm in New York, along with custom farming.

“We’re very diversified and truthfully, that’s the only reason our farm made it through the pandemic,” Marianne says.

The Adrenaline Effect

When the sun peaked up the following morning, true devastation was revealed.

“We knew that cows were hurt, and my husband and I embraced, cried and then were like, ‘Where do we start?’” Marianne says.

The thought of rebuilding was so overwhelming, as it wasn’t like they just needed a roof and windows; 90% of the buildings were completely gone.

The farm was purchased in 1943 by Marianne’s husband, Ward’s family. The family milked cows and delivered milk from doorstep to doorstep. Ward is one of eight kids and many of his siblings have their own farms.

“Dairy is in our blood. My kids grew up here. My grandchildren are being raised here now,” Marianne says.

Donations began pouring in. People were walking down the lane to offer a lending hand or a case of water. A GoFundMe account raised more than $120,000, which later the Eachus family used to help rebuild their heifer barn.

“The outpour of help was overwhelming,” Marianne says.

In addition to food and water, big equipment, like excavators came in and more people, all willing to roll up their sleeves and help pick up the debris, came down the driveway.

Marianne says that she looked to her husband and said, “We have to move forward now.”

Learning that the largest dairy in New Jersey had been hit by a F1 tornado drew waves of people in.

“The outpour of help redeemed my faith in humanity,” Marianne says.

Still emotional talking about what unfolded more than a year ago, Marianne says the devastation that hit the family farm was like a death in the family.

“We hold onto all the great memories and somehow just move forward,” she says.

The total loss is estimated at $2 million, although the Eachus family is still battling with insurance companies today.

“It all had been an emotional financial struggle,” she says.

Community Support

The community support was widespread. Local restaurants donated food to ensure the family and all their employees were fed.

A few days after the tornado came through, a couple of Amish men stopped in and offered to volunteer their time to help with the rebuilding process. From a metal roof to hammering 2 x 4’s, installing windows, whatever they could do to help, they did. What they wouldn’t do was except pay. The only payment they would accept is having a meal provided. Which the local restaurants and families made sure the entire work crew – family, employees and those volunteering, including the Amish, were fed, day in and day-out.

“If I had to pay all that labor, I know we wouldn’t have been able to rebuild half of what we did,” Marianne says.

As promised, for 10 weeks the Amish work crew showed up, rolled up their sleeves and worked. Somedays it was a handful, other days, nearly 25. Their ages ranged from 14 to gentlemen in their 70s.

“What one crew started, the next crew came in and just started up where they left off,” Marianne says. “They were amazing help.”

The destruction was massive. Four harvesters were blown down. 45 cows died. And, so much more. Harvest continued until December. Their combine was destroyed, and the fields were covered with debris.

Despite the massive blow Wellacrest Farms experienced, the Eachus family feels blessed. With three generations on the farm today, Marianne says she hopes that her grandchildren will want to continue the family farm someday.

“The farm is in better shape than it has been in probably the last 10 years,” she says.

“Everything the color blue on our farm is a sign of rebuilding that happened from the farm. Which was a lot,” she shares.

Wellacrest Farms’ feed company offered a 0%, $100,000 loan, to serve as a line of credit, to begin the rebuilding process. Factor in the GoFundMe, and all the cash donations, and the Eachus family feels blessed for the outpouring of support.

Marianne says it’s hard for her to watch the news on television with all the devastation that Hurricane Ivan brought to Florida this fall.

“It’s just too hard,” she says. “It brings back all that we have gone through.”

Her 5-year-old grandson gets hysterical when weather alerts come across the television.

“He’s a tough guy, but as soon as it starts to get a dark cloud, he begins to cry,” she says.

The tornado has affected the entire family, but more than anything, it has made them feel grateful.

“I wish I could write a thank you note to every single person who offered help in any shape or form,” Marianne says.

Letters from California to Florida and everywhere in-between came, but one letter that came from an older gentleman in a nursing home still sticks with Marianne a year later.

“He wrote me a beautiful letter, saying his grandparents had a dairy farm when he was younger and they had to take the milk and put it in the cans and take it to the dump station with his father,” she said crying. “He sent me $20 and that was what meant the most to me.”

Resilient, a year later the Eachus family, their herd of cows and their employees all have been through so much. They’re thankful for the outpouring of support from their community to help them rebuild. Without them, Marianne says she doesn’t know how her family would have rebuilt.

“Everyone helping us out gave us strength to take it one day at a time,” Marianne says.

Premium Alfalfa Hay Delivered by Amazon Prime

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 16:37:12 GMT

According to EarthWeb, Amazon reports that its Prime version had more than 200 million members in 22 countries in April 2021. From accessories to clothing to toiletries, households can get just about anything with one click through their Amazon app.

Dairy farmer, Steve Maddox knew his wife loved Amazon. Recently he also found a newfound love, as he began utilizing their shipping service. Earlier this month, an Amazon Prime truck hauled premium alfalfa dairy hay from his Logan, Utah hay ranch to his Riverdale, Calif. dairy farm.

Amazon worked with a dispatcher who then was able to fill the truck with Maddox’s milk cow alfalfa hay. Although, the load of hay didn’t qualify for free shipping.

“Amazon Prime back hauled 21 tons of hay from our hay ranch to our dairy,” Maddox shares. “The cost of shipping was $1,250.”

He says his hay trucking cost is down from its peak in December 2021, at around $2,000, but up considerably from 8 years ago.

“The cost of trucking from Utah to California back then was between $900 to $1,000,” he says.

Maddox Dairy milks 4,000 cows, with an equal number of heifers, and farms 1,600 acres of almonds and 3,00 acres of wine grapes, as well as cropland to supply feed for their cattle.

According to Maddox, Amazon Prime has many orders heading east but lacks loads coming west.

“They look to backhaul,” he shares.

Delivered in a straight truck, Maddox says they use a forklift and a ramp to underload the 1,400 lb. bales.

“We have 2,500 tons of hay that will get moved from Utah to California,” Maddox says. “That is 120 loads that are trucked from June to the first part of November. Sometimes we will store the hay in Utah and move it west when we need it.”

Amazon is known for its quick deliveries and when the big semi-truck showed up, Maddox didn’t question what his wife had ordered and realized there are many benefits to holding a Prime membership.

Water Shortage Pushes Central Oregon Dairy Farmer to Sell 40% of His Herd

Tue, 10 May 2022 15:07:29 GMT

Water is a crucial ingredient when it comes to agriculture. This especially holds true in locations like the High Desert of Central Oregon. With 12 inches of precipitation annually, central Oregon isn’t a stranger to dry conditions. However, their scarce water issues have generated problems for river habitat along the Upper Deschutes River. All of this has diverted irrigation water that normally would be allocated for agriculture, to stay put in the river.

This ongoing issue has become a headache for many farmers, like dairy farmer Jos Poland of Madras. Less water doesn’t only mean fewer aces for his cows to graze on. It has forced Poland to make the hard decision to sell 40% of his herd earlier this year, reducing it from 240 head to 140 milking to cut costs. Poland says he was left with no other choice.

The water issue has been ongoing, but it was heightened when Oregon’s spotted frog population was put on the federal Endangered Species List in 2014. This caused the Center for Biological Diversity to ratchet up the pressure, slapping on a lawsuit that requires more water distribution for the Upper Deschutes. Doing just that means less water for farmers, like Poland.

When the river loses water, the wetland frog habitat along the Upper Deschutes dries up. When the river has too much water, frog eggs flush downstream and die.

“It’s not a great picture for the frog right now,” Bridget Moran, who manages the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Bend office, says. “The listing of the frog brought to the surface a need for the broader restoration of the river.”

Poland, who ships his organic milk to Darigold, says he cannot grow enough grass to feed his cows due to the water shortage.

“Feed prices have skyrocketed,” he says. “And, it’s becoming harder and harder to find hay.”

Emotional as it is, Poland is contemplating what’s next for him if the drought continues.

Early Beginnings

His journey began in Holland, where he was born and raised on his family’s dairy farm, owned by his father and uncles. At 20-year-old, Poland went to Canada as an exchange student and then became a partner on a dairy farm in Alberta. In 1993, Poland moved to America to operate a conventional dairy farm in the Wilmette Valley before he built his dairy in 2005 with his wife, Deanna, who was raised on a central Oregon dairy farm.

Deanna understands the heaviness of the challenges she and her husband face as dairy farmers. However, the family lifestyle that owning and operating a dairy farm provides pushes them to not give up. The Poland’s have three children: Johan, 16, and twins, Maikel and Maija, 15.

“It’s great for the family to come together and be a team, working together,” Deanna says.

When labor became a bigger issue, the Poland’s pulled the trigger to install robots in 2020. This investment is something Poland questions, as this was ahead of the drought. When the water scarcity intensified, thanks to the spotted frog issue, Poland has regrets.

“To tell you the truth, I never would have done this if I knew then what I know now,” he shares. “I would have probably said, ‘that’s enough, I’m going to do something else.’”

Water Nightmare

Being in a drought for a couple of years, Poland says their water allocations have drastically declined.

“We normally get about two feet per acre of water,” he says. “Last year we got one foot and then later during the irrigation season, somewhere at end of June, they cut us back more. This year we get allocated half of what we got last year.”

This reduction means that Poland can only irrigate about a quarter of his land that he has water rights for.

“It took a lot of time for me to get my organic pastures established,” he shares. “The best thing to control the weeds for organic farmers is to water the pastures.”

Poland reports that half of his pastures are totally dead.

“They’re done. I’ll have to start all over if we ever get water back,” he says.

Head south to Redmond-Bend area, and Poland says they are getting five to six feet per acre of water.

“It makes no sense. They’re wasting water. It’s all because it is tied up in old water laws,” he says.

Poland claims that more water was left in the river during the wintertime causing less water to be stored for future irrigation.

“We should have twice the amount of water right now,” he says.

Due to being a certified organic producer, Poland’s cows are required to spend so much time each day grazing out on pasture. Last year, they gave some leniency due to the drought, but this year he was forced to cull some cows. Poland is hoping he doesn’t have to further reduce his herd size but says that it will all depend on if his farm gets the timely summer rains that they desperately need.

“Last year we had 100°F at the end of June, which we never have had before,” he says. “I never had any thunderstorm showers to speak of last year.”

Moving Ahead

Poland’s plan is to reevaluate his situation later this fall before making any further life decisions.

“We’re going to watch what feed costs do, but I do think they’re going to be just outrageous,” he says.

Although they have no signed feed contracts, the Poland’s have a great relationship with their long-time feed supplier from eastern Oregon.

“We agree on the price and the quantity at the beginning of the season,” Poland says. “Even if prices go up, our buyer goes off of our agreed price.”

With only two dairies left in central Oregon, the idea of thinking about a life without cows tears at Poland’s heart.

“We built everything brand new here, starting from scratch,” he says. “It’s very hard to think about life without dairy cows, but at some point, you have to say enough is enough.”

Poland says truck driving might be the route he goes next, but for the time being, they’re trying to take the best care of their cattle.

“That is what we know how to do best,” he says.

Both growing up on family dairy farms, working hard has always been in the Poland’s veins. But now, they feel like they’re working harder than ever before and with mountains of roadblocks, the duo say it’s almost too hard to keep going on.

“It never bothered me before,” he says. “But I’m 56 now and I cannot predict what the future holds.”

Corn Planting Progress the Slowest Since 2013

Tue, 03 May 2022 20:39:25 GMT

As of May 1, USDA estimates 14% of the U.S. corn crop has been planted. That compares to a five-year average of 33% planted. Last year, 42% was planted by May 1.

This year’s planting pace is the slowest since 2013.

Roll over the grey buttons below to get a closer look at each state.

Which states are the furthest behind?

State	Percent Complete	5-Year Average	Percentage Points Behind 5-Year Average
Illinois	7	43	36
Iowa	9	42	33
Minnesota	0	28	28
Missouri	27	52	25
Indiana	6	25	19
Kentucky	26	42	16
Tennessee	42	55	13
Ohio	3	16	13
Wisconsin	1	14	13
South Dakota	3	13	10
Michigan	1	10	9
Nebraska	28	34	6
Colorado	13	19	6
North Dakota	0	5	5

*As of May 1, 2022

Meanwhile, North Carolina and Texas are ahead of the five-year average for corn planting.

See AgWeb’s Corn Planting Map :

U.S. farmers had planted just 14% of their #corn crop by May 1, the slowest for the date since 2013 and well behind the average of 33%. That is up from 7% in the prior week. Trade expected 16%. pic.twitter.com/1C4z6SWMRy
— Karen Braun (@kannbwx) May 2, 2022

As of May 1, USDA estimates 8% of the U.S. soybean crop has been planted. That compares to a five-year average of 13% planted. Last year 22% was planted by May 1.

Illinois, Iowa and Indiana are the furthest behind in soybean planting compared to the five-year averages for each state.

Roll over the grey buttons below to get a closer look at each state.

See AgWeb’s Soybean Planting Map :

Cotton planting is on pace with 16% of the crop in the ground, which is on pace with last year and the five-year average.

See the full Crop Progress report .

Corn Hits New Eight-Year Peak, Soybeans Rally on Supply Worries

Thu, 06 May 2021 20:11:42 GMT

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures extended a rally on Thursday above eight-year highs as dry weather threatened harvest yields in major exporter Brazil and kept the focus on ebbing global supplies.

Soybeans approached an 8-1/2-year peak reached last week, buoyed by rallying vegetable oil prices, while wheat was little changed.

Corn crop losses due to dryness in Brazil could shift export demand to the United States, which is already grappling with tight inventories, analysts said.

“We’re still very dry in Brazil,” said Brian Hoops, president of U.S. brokerage Midwest Market Solutions. “That crop is in retreat.”

The most-active corn contract was up 5-1/4 cents at $7.13-3/4 a bushel by 11:25 a.m. CDT (1625 GMT). It earlier touched the highest price since March 2013 at $7.22-1/2.

December corn that represents the next U.S. harvest was up 15-1/4 cents at $6.20 a bushel, after setting a contract high of $6.22-1/4.

CBOT wheat was flat at $7.44-1/2 a bushel.

The most-active soybean contract soared 24-1/2 cents to $15.66-3/4 a bushel. November soybeans that represent the next harvest set a contract high and were up 26-1/4 cents at $14.09.

Rising new-crop soy and corn prices reflected the battle to incite U.S. farmers to increase plantings to replenish tight stocks, analysts said.

Brokers are beginning to grow nervous that cool weather will slow the emergence of recently planted corn.

“There’s some concerns that this year’s crop is not off to one of the greatest starts ever,” Hoops said.

A 13-year high for palm oil, against a backdrop of tight global edible oil supplies, helped boost soybean futures, traders said.

World food prices increased for an 11th consecutive month in April to a near-seven year high, according to the United Nations food agency.

“The sentiment is pretty bullish, not just in corn but the entire grains complex,” said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago, Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Edmund Blair, Kirsten Donovan)

2020 World Forage Analysis Superbowl Winners Announced

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 03:07:39 GMT

The World Forage Analysis Superbowl evaluated 266 entries from 16 states and presented awards to top five finishers in eight divisions during the virtual Brevant seeds Forage Superbowl Luncheon on Wednesday, September 30. Hardrock Farms of Wheatland, Wyo., was named Grand Champion Forage Producer of the 37^th annual contest with their Commercial Hay entry and were presented $2,500 from Kemin Animal Nutrition & Health. The Grand Champion First-Time Entrant cash award of $2,000, sponsored by Kuhn North America, was presented to Dividing Ridge Farm, Fairhope, Penn.

Additionally, two Quality Counts Awards were presented to competitors. In the area of Quality Counts Corn Silage, Johnson Farms LLC, Daggett, Mich., took home top honors. The top award for the Quality Counts Hay/Haylage went to Lazy 2K, Wheatland, Wyo., and was sponsored by CROPLAN by WinField.

The top five placings from each division are:

Baleage Division – Sponsored by Agri-King, Inc.

1^st Place – Kendall Guither, Walnut, Ill.

2^nd Place – Jenson Family Farms, Elk Mound, Wis.

3^rd Place – Joseph Beachy, Bonduel, Wis.

4^th Place – Evergreen View LLC, Waldo, Wis.

5^th Place – Katherine Guither, Walnut, Ill.

Commercial Hay Division – Sponsored by NEXGROW Alfalfa

1^st Place – Bappe Farm, Riverton, Wyo.

2^nd Place – Lazy 2K, Wheatland, Wyo.

3^rd Place – Cross Raods Farm LLC, Center, Col.

4^th Place – Rooster Ranch, Casper, Wyo.

5^th Place – Dick and Powell Farm, Cordell, Okl.

Dairy Hay Division– Sponsored by W-L Alfalfa

1^st Place – Lester Zimmerman, Penn Yan, N.Y.

2^nd Place – Don & Nancy Hasselquist, Osceola, Wis.

3^rd Place – Olson Farms, Lena, Wis.

4^th Place – Agreda Acres, Byron, Ill.

5^th Place – Town and Country Farms, Melrose, Wis.

Grass Hay Division – Sponsored by Barenbrug USA

1^st Place – Lazy 2K, Wheatland, Wyo.

2^nd Place – Hardrock Farms, Wheatland, Wyo.

3^rd Place – Stefan Hay Company, North Collins, N.Y.

4^th Place – Olson Farms, Lena, Wis.

5^th Place – Joseph Beachy, Bonduel, Wis.

Alfalfa Haylage Division– Sponsored by Ag-Bag by RCI

1^st Place – Corner Oak Farm, Grand Blanc, Mich.

2^nd Place – Royal Vista Holsteins, Pickett, Wis.

3^rd Place – Ethan Haywood, Hastings, Mich.

4^th Place – Sand Creek Dairy, Hastings, Mich.

5^th Place – Austin Haywood, Hastings, Mich.

Mixed/Grass Haylage Divison – Sponsored by Lallemand Animal Nutrition

1^st Place – Olson Farms, Lena, Wis.

2^nd Place – Legacy Farms, Shell Lake, Wis.

3^rd Place – Brost Farms, Medford, Wis.

4^th Place – Morning View Dairy LLC, Merrill, Wis.

5^th Place – Leuer Dairy, Oconto, Wis.

Standard Corn Silage Division – Sponsored by Scherer Inc.

1^st Place – Jenson Family Farms., Elk Mound, Wis.

2^nd Place – Cla-Cor Dairy, Eastony, Mo.

3^rd Place – Johnson Farms LLC, Daggett, Mich

4^th Place – Platte/Spitzley Dairy, Westphalia, Mich.

5^th Place – O’Harrows Family Farm, Oconto Falls, Wis.

BMR Corn Silage Divison – Sponsored by Brevant seeds

1^st Place – West-Vale-Vu Dairy, Nashville, Mich.

2^nd Place – Barbland Farms-South, Fabius, N.Y.

3^rd Place – Dale Amstutz, Sterling, Ohio

4^th Place – Raes Dairy LLC, Phelps, N.Y.

5^th Place – Thornapple Farms, Leicester, N.Y.

In addition to the division and special awards sponsors listed above, the 2020 World Forage Analysis Superbowl was made possible by Platinum Sponsor, Brevant seeds. Additional support was provided by general sponsors, New Holland, National Hay Association, Passion Ag, Inc. and Provimi.

The World Forage Analysis Superbowl is organized in partnership between Dairyland Laboratories Inc., Hay & Forage Grower, US Dairy Forage Research Center, University of Wisconsin and World Dairy Expo. To learn more, visit foragesuperbowl.org .