Project Overview
Forages are the nation’s 3rd most valuable field crop, behind corn, wheat, and soybean. Since forage farmers need educational opportunities which provides information on how to mitigate human, financial, and production risks, MFA coordinated five educational meetings to address these topics.
Forage/dairy farmers learned about: Options for managing changing input costs/supplies for forages and how to do a cost-benefit analysis for their operation; how to do a cost-benefit analysis using different fertilizer inputs; if optimizing their inputs including fertilizer would effectively lower financial risks while protecting yield and quality; how to evaluate capital improvements that can help them operate with fewer or aging employees; how to make capital improvements that save labor or are less physically demanding for aging workers; how to increase profitability without increasing herd size; the environmental benefits forages offer, including how to capitalize on these benefits in their rotations and conservation incentive programs available to them; the types of crop insurance options available to them, primarily the Forage Seeding product and AHP program, and how to determine the levels of coverage that are appropriate for their operations; and the types of dairy risk management programs available to reduce financial exposure to financial risks.
Number of Participants: 332
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
There are no promotional materials available for this project.
EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS
There are no educational materials available for this project.
REPORTS & EVALUATIONS
There are no reports or evaluations available for this project.