USDA reported 46% of corn planted as of the week ended May 2, according to the latest USDA Crop Progress report.

The fava bean is a frost tolerant, saline tolerant, nitrogen-fixing legume that has cool season and warm season varieties, produces abundant biomass and has a stout, erect growth. With a wide spectrum of forms and genetic traits, it can be tricky to find the variety best adapted for a specific area, but recent research from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service is helping to pinpoint the best options for growers in the West.

According to the latest USDA Crop Progress report, some 3% of corn has emerged in the week ended April 25, in line with the 3% emerged in the same week last year but below the 5-year average of 4%.

Researchers at the University of Wyoming (UW) are studying sunn hemp as a potential forage crop for producers in the state. This tropical legume, unrelated to industrial hemp and cannabis, is known to perform well under hot growing conditions and add nitrogen into the system. Read more in this article from the Wyoming Livestock Roundup.

This week’s podcast, sponsored by Bio Till Cover Crops, features Colin Walden, Rangeland Management Specialist with NRCS. Walden will discuss the soil health benefits of grazing, how cover crops can be part of a managed grazing program, what practices improve forage cover crops for grazing, and more.

This week’s podcast, sponsored by Yetter Equipment, is the second in a two-part series featuring Mary Drewnoski, Beef Systems Specialist with University of Nebraska Extension. Drewnoski will discuss timing of grazing cattle on cover crops, financial benefits to integrating cattle into a cropping system, how cover crop seeding method influences grazing, and more.