<div><iframe title="Adding forage crops found to be beneficial to area ag producers" height="122" width="100%" style="border: none;" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player" src="https://www.podbean.com/media/player/ysknd-e2aab9?from=yiiadmin&download=1&version=1&skin=3&btn-skin=101&auto=1&share=1&fonts=Helvetica&download=1&rtl=0&pbad=1"></iframe></div>By JAMES BELL Hays PostCrops like wheat, corn and sorghum remain the perennial favorites for ag producers across Kansas, but recent studies by the Kansas State Agricultural Research Station suggest adding a forage crop into a crop rotation can be beneficial to producers and the land in western Kansas.Forage crops are already a large part of agriculture in Kansas, according to&nbsp;Bob Gillen, K-State Agriculture Research Center department head, but outside factors are generating interest into expanded use."Forage production is really important in Kansas,"&nbsp;Gillen said. "Kansas ranks sixth in the United States in total hay production."Almost 2 million acres of Kansas farmland is used each year in forage production, he said, ranking it fifth in acres used by crop type in the state."You think about corn, wheat, sorghum, grain sorghum, but then right behind that are our annual forages," Gillen said. "So they are really important to Kansas agriculture."Despite a large amount of forage crop production, research often focuses on the more well-known grain crops, Gillen said, but the availability of water for irrigation is pushing research into forage crops."We felt like there was a need there and we are trying to meet that," Gillen said."Forage production is important for the western Kansas region’s livestock and dairy industries and has become increasingly important as irrigation-well capacity declines," <a href="https://newprairiepress.org/kaesrr/vol5/iss7/5/">according to a study published last fall.</a>"That's been a big focus we have been working on for six or seven years," Gillen said."Forages are actually a more resilient crop than grain production," he said, due to the ability to grow with less water — a common condition of Kansas fields."With forages, we almost always have enough precipitation to grow that stock and leaves," Gillen said.&nbsp;Outside of water concerns, the goal of recent studies into forage production is to give producers more options, especially as grain prices have remained low and beef production continues to increase.The recent studies looked at how forage production fits into crop rotations or how it can replace a regular rotation with all forage.And it may be a better financial option for producers.While historically grain crops have been "king" in Kansas due to their higher value, Gillen said, in recent years producers have been in a slump where grain crops are not as valuable."It allows us diversification where a producer can feed in a different kind of crop," Gillen said.The research also found by adding a forage crop into a field rotation soil health can be improved.Crop diversification can also give more flexibility to herbicide and weed management, Gillen said.&nbsp;With that in mind, variety testing has also been an important part of recent research. Last year, 77 hay varieties were tested and 87 silage varieties, Gillen said."That gives the producers a neutral party look," he said."It gives another avenue, it gives another possibility," Gillen said. "That's what we are about, trying to give producers as many different options as we can to try to meet the variable weather in western Kansas and the variable marketing conditions."<a href="https://newprairiepress.org/kaesrr/vol5/iss7/">The most recent studies published by the center can be found by clicking here.&nbsp;</a>

KSU Ag Research Center shows benefits of a forage-crop rotation