Introduction It’s early May, you’re looking at a rather marginal alfalfa stand, the haylage silo is nearly empty, and you generally use some corn silage in the dairy ration. Here are the options: Kill (plow or spray) the alfalfa stand now and plant a full-season corn hybrid, control perennial grasses and broadleaves with a post-emergence […]
“Cut alfalfa at late bud for optimum quality.” We’ve heard this statement, or a similar one, many times over the past 10 to 15 years. Although forage quality is strongly correlated to morphological stage (for example, late-bud or first flower), many years of monitoring the forage quality of a standing crop has taught us that environment plays an important role in what the actual forage quality might be at a specific stage of maturity.
Alfalfa may start growing in the spring while some freezing nights are still occurring. This has caused many management questions among farmers.
Undersander et al. (1993) developed a method for estimating milk per ton of forage dry matter (DM) as an index of forage quality of alfalfa and grasses. The milk per ton index of Undersander et al. (1993) is based on energy content of the forage predicted from acid detergent fiber (ADF) content and DM intake potential of the forage predicted from neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content.
Attaining a high silage density is important for two primary reasons. Most importantly, density and dry matter content determine the porosity of the silage.
As interest grows in adding grasses to dairy rations (to add digestible fiber and improve cow performance and health), many dairy producers find themselves learning about a feedstuff they haven’t grown or used in many years. This Fact Sheet will explore some reasons for feeding grasses, discuss some of the agronomic considerations producers need to think about when growing grasses for […]
Relative Feed Value has been widely used for ranking forage for sale, inventorying and allocating forage lots to animal groups according to their quality needs, as well as determining when to harvest.
For determination of keeping stand of new seedlings: Determine whether the seedlings have developed crowns (pull a plant and feel if ridge between root and top growth which usually develops when plant is 3 to 4 inches tall). All seedlings without crowns and with damaged terminal buds will die. Count remaining plants and keep stand […]
While removal of old stands is recommended with fall applications, many fields are now slated for removal due to winter-kill. This can be challenging, but options exist depending on the situation. Below I discuss management options for common scenarios this spring.
Establishment of dense vigorous stands of alfalfa is essential for long-term profitability, but establishment can be challenging because seedling alfalfa is vulnerable to competition from annual weeds and wind and water erosion. Roundup Ready Alfalfa was re-introduced last year as a new tool available to farmers growing high-quality alfalfa. While not for everyone, it will be useful for many alfalfa growers.
Step 1: Choose a representative 2-square-foot area in the field. Step 2: Determine the most mature stem in the 2-square-foot sampling area using the criteria shown in the table to the right. Step 3: Measure the length of the tallest stem in the 2-square-foot area. Measure if from the soil surface (next to plant crown) to the […]
Stress in the seeding year reduces future yields of alfalfa. This occurs because the seeding year determines the stand plant density as well as individual plant size and vigor. The following paragraphs will show that autotoxicity, potato leaf hopper, cover crop, and, possibly, drought stresses in the seeding year will reduce alfalfa yield in future years, even when the stress is gone.
