With the recent dry summers in the Southern Plains, interest in moisture conserving alternative crops has increased. One new forage that has shown great potential in North Central Oklahoma is teff grass. Teff is a summer annual forage native to Ethiopia that is very broadly adapted. It can tolerate a wide range of soil conditions, [...]
Looking for an alternate crop where water shortage is an issue, there are rotation time restrictions, or cash flow is a concern? You may want to consider foxtail millet. Foxtail millet is an annual fine stem grass that is also known as German or Italian millet. It is the second most planted millet of all [...]
Triticale had a humble beginning in 1875 when hybrids of wheat and rye were made. Triticale takes its name from Triticum and Secale (Latin names for wheat and rye). As a hybrid, this grain gets the best from each of its parents. It has the hardiness of rye and will self-pollinate like wheat. Today, it [...]
Sugar’s rich history predates the Age of Discovery, but it was Napoleon Bonaparte who started the sugar beet business. The British had blockades in place in the West Indies and Philippines during the war, so no cane sugar was getting to France. Napoleon commissioned his scientists to find a suitable replacement for cane sugar to [...]
What do shale oil, ice cream, and paper have in common? They all need guar, a member of the legume family. These products, plus many more, use ground up guar endosperm, better known as guar gum. In the past, guar has not been a crop with much publicity. As demand goes up, that is quickly [...]
Growing canola can be a viable alternative to growing wheat in certain parts of our trade area. “Canola provides an option for weed control in wheat ground,” emphasizes Howard Bartel, Crop Quest Agronomist in the Weatherford, OK area. Most canola planted is Roundup Ready which provides a great tool to help eliminate weeds dominating wheat [...]
