May 12, 2016 Alfalfa Harvest Alert / Scissors-Cut Information

Updated May 13

Central Minnesota Forage Council, U of M Extension, Farm and Business Cooperators Chart starts with all farms for most recent test - followed by all tests for individual farms. Farms are listed somewhat from south to north. Watch 3-4 samples for trend line. "Hgt" is height of tallest stems in 2 foot square sample area. * Last Data from a Previous Date. "Mat" is Maturity of most mature stem 1=Veg 2=Bud 3=Flower Date Farm County Town Hgt Mat PEAQ RFV RFQ ADF NDF NDFd CP 5/12 Husfeldt Sibley S. of Glencoe 24 Veg 187 190 209 26.6 33.3 47.5 23.7 5/12 Dreier 1 Carver Norwood 24-25 1.1? 5/9 Dreier 2 Carver Norwood " A hint of buds, but not much change in that 5/9 Dreier 3 Carver Norwood " since Monday. Lab Test not back yet 5/9 Hoen Carver Bongard 5/12 Krienke McLeod Lester Prairie 24.5 Veg 195 198 230 25.7 32.4 49.7 23.4 5/12 Rickeman McLeod Hutchinson 22.2 Veg 199 227 248 23.7 28.9 48.2 26.5 5/12 Poppler Wright Howard Lake 24.5 1.1 195 215 251 28.9 30.1 48.2 26.5 5/12 Krause Wright W Buffalo 19 Veg 218 205 227 23.4 32.1 57 27.9 5/12 Fisher Meeker Forest City 23 Veg 195 218 245 24.5 29.8 51 24.6 5/12 Gathje Stearns Eden Valley 18 Veg 224 5/12 Maus Stearns S Freeport 16.5 Veg 237 241 271 20.6 28.2 62 31.2 5/12 Frericks Stearns N Melrose 16.5 Veg 237 204 239 21.8 32.8 65 31.1 5/12 Middendorf Stearns N Freeport 23 Veg 195 233 23.8 28.1 28.5 5/12 Winkleman Benton E Duelm 18 Veg 224 205 237 25.3 31.3 51.4 23.5 5/12 Scapanski Benton NE Sauk Rapids 21 Veg 205 223 254 24.1 29.3 52.2 24.8 5/12 O & S Dairy Benton E Rice 18 Veg 224 242 272 23 27.3 52.4 26.2 5/12 Roerick Morrison SW of Upsala 20 Veg 211 219 253 22.7 30.3 62 30.2

KEY POINTS: For Scissors-cut sampling the goal is to have at least 3 tests that are 3-4 days apart to establish a trend that is more reliable than a one-time sample. Hay or Haylage in the feed bunk can be expected to have an RFV that is 15 to 25 points lower than the fresh-cut sample teste or what the PEAQ stick or chart indicates - because of harvest and storage loss. So harvest might start when a fresh-cut sample of PEAQ RFV numbers are 15 to 25 points higher than the feed target. The PEAQ RFV number indicates what t we could expect to see in a fresh cut lab test. NDF might be 3 to 6 points higher for the as-fed feed. Harvest might start when the fresh-cut samples of PEAQ NDF is 3-6 points lower than the feed targets. When the alfalfa gets to be 22 to 24 to 26 inches tall, buds are likely to start to form; and dairy producers might watch for a good weather opportunity to harvest. Livestock Producers will have different quality targets based on the type of animals, other ration ingredients, and past experience with harvest and feeding of hay products. It can be useful for livestock producers to talk with a nutrition advisor about harvet targets and strategies. A the new crop grows, we expect old crop residue to be a smaller share of the sample, and less significant. There is seldom a reason to remove old crop residue in the spring. Weeds can be an issue too. Grass will raise NDF numbers and lower RFV numbers usually. Grass NDF is usually more digestible, so an alfalfa grass mix can run a little higer NDF and still feed as well as pure alfalfa. Jerry Cherney at Cornell wrote and article about this that would be useful to people seeding alfalfa grass mixtures.

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Husfeldt- Sibley Co. South of Glencoe Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/12 24 Veg 187

RFV 190

RFQ 209

ADF 26.6

NDF NDFd CP GDD 33.3 47.5 23.7

Notes

PEAQ RFV 255 225 200 188

RFV 306 260 229

RFQ

ADF 18.9 22.7 24.8

NDF NDFd CP GDD 22.5 29.9 25.5 30 28.3 26.7

Notes

Dreier 2- Carver Co - Norwood Date Height Mat 5/2 15 Veg 5/5 17 Veg 5/9 21 Veg 5/12

PEAQ RFV 255 230 205

RFV 322 248 239

RFQ

ADF 18.6 23.4 23.3

NDF NDFd CP GDD 21.5 31.6 26.5 28.6 27.5 26.8

Notes

Dreier 3- Carver Co - Norwood Date Height Mat 5/2 15 Veg 5/5 18 Veg 5/9 21 Veg 5/12

PEAQ RFV 255 225 205

RFV 323 261 200

RFQ

ADF 18 22.1 26.6

NDF NDFd CP GDD 21.5 30.1 25.5 30 31.7 24.7

Notes

Hoen - Carver Co - Bongard Date Height Mat 5/5 18 Veg 5/9 22 Veg 5/12

PEAQ RFV 225 200

RFV 238 219

RFQ

ADF 24.4 24.1

NDF NDFd CP GDD 27.3 29.1 29.9 26.3

Notes

Krienke - McLeod - Near Lester Prairie Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/5 17 Veg 235 5/9 21 Veg 205 5/12 24.5 Veg 195

RFV 276 213 198

RFQ 326 250 230

ADF 19.0 24.0 25.7

NDF NDFd CP GDD 25.0 56.0 25.0 30.6 52.8 23.7 32.4 49.7 23.4

Dreier 1- Carver Co - Norwood Date Height Mat 5/2 15 Veg 5/5 18 Veg 5/9 22 Veg 5/12 24-25 1.1

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Below

Notes

Rickeman - McLeod - South of Hutchinson Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/9 20.5 Veg 208 5/12 22.2 Veg 199

RFV 236 227

RFQ

Poppler - Wright - Howard Lake Date Height Mat 5/5 17.5 Veg 5/9 20.5 Veg 5/12 24.5 1.1

PEAQ RFV 235 203 195

NDF NDFd CP GDD 28.1 28.2 28.9 48.2 26.5

Notes

248

ADF 22.6 23.7

RFV 337 249 215

RFQ 407 284 251

ADF 17.0 21.8 28.9

NDF NDFd CP GDD 21.0 64.6 30.0 26.8 56.4 26.2 30.1 48.2 26.5

Notes

Krause - Wright Co - west of Buffalo Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/12 19-20 Veg 218

RFV 205

RFQ 227

ADF 23.4

NDF NDFd CP GDD 32.1 57 27.9

Notes

Fisher - Meeker Co - north of Forest City Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/12 23 Veg 195

RFV 218

RFQ 245

ADF 24.5

NDF NDFd CP GDD 29.8 51 24.6

Notes

RFV RFQ ADF 184 200 24.7 Lab not done yet

NDF NDFd CP GDD 35.2 61 31.8

Notes

Gathje - Stearns Co- northeast of Eden Valley Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/9 17 Veg 230 5/12 18 Veg 224

Maus - Stearns Co - south of Freeport Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/12 16.5 Veg 237

RFV 241

RFQ 271

ADF 20.6

NDF NDFd CP GDD 28.2 62 31.2

Notes

Frericks - Stearns Co 4 miles - north of Melrose Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/12 16.5 Veg 237

RFV 204

RFQ 239

ADF 21.8

NDF NDFd CP GDD 32.8 65 31.1

Notes

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Middendorf - Stearns - north of Freeport Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/12 23 Veg 194

RFV 233

Winkelman - Benton Co - east of Duelm Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/5 13 Veg >240 5/9 16 Veg 237 5/12 18 Veg 224

RFV RFQ ADF No Lab Sample 256 318 20.8 205 237 25.3

RFQ

ADF 23.8

NDF NDFd CP GDD 28.1 28.5

Notes

NDF NDFd

GDD

Notes

GDD

Notes

NDF NDFd CP GDD 30.3 62 30.2

Notes

26.3 31.3

CP

62.1 26.4 51.4 23.5

D Scapanski - Benton Co - Northeast of Sauk Rapids Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV RFV RFQ ADF 5/5 14 Veg >240 No Lab Sample 5/9 18.6 Veg 221 242 289 22.6 5/12 21 Veg 205 223 254 24.1

27.4 29.3

59.6 24.0 52.2 24.8

O & S Dairy - Benton Co - East of Rice 5/5 13 Veg 5/9 16 Veg 5/12 18 Veg

25.0 27.3

58.7 25.7 52.4 26.2

>240 237 224

Roerick - Morrison Co - southwest of Upsala Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/12 20 Veg 211

No Lab Sample 272 324 20.2 242 272 23

RFV 219

Sponsors and Cooperating Agri-Businesses Nelson Dairy Consulting - Greg Lefebvre United Farmers Cooperative at Waconia Rich Shug & Bob Nelson Ag Venture/FormAFeed at Watkins KASM 1150 AM Albany Stearns County DHIA LAB I will add to this list as I learn of other sponsors

RFQ 253

ADF 22.7

NDF NDFd

CP

Vita Plus, Barry Viser Total Ag Business Services - Jim Kastanek Feedstuff Bagging - Dennis Yager KLTF 960 AM Little Falls Dairyland Lab at Sauk Rapids

Extension Educators Nathan Winter, McLeod / Meeker Counties 320-484-4334 [email protected] Dan Martens, Stearns / Benton / Morrison Counties 968-5077 or 1-800-964-4929 [email protected] Jason Ertl, Sibley County 507-237-4100 [email protected] Page 4 of 5

NOTES POTENTIAL WEATHER EFFECTS Typically cool weather results in Lower Fiber, Higher Digestibility, Lower Crude Protein. Cloudy weather may result in More Fiber and Lower Digestibility. Wet weather may result in Higher Leaf to Stem Ration and Lower Fiber accordinly. So you can think about the results of different combinations of these. It's not always a clear conclusion. Some Feed Reps tell me 1st cutting usuallyhas better fiber digestibility because it usually grows under cooler weather conditions. WINTER INJURY - Have not gotten reports of significant winter injury. 5/5 Carver County Cooperators took first samples in field on May 2. Barry Visser shared 2 samples from May 5. I measured fields I sample on May 5, but chose not to clip samples until they are a little taller, maybe May 9, pretty likely by May 12. Very high RFV numbers on three samples might partly be the result of cooler weather conditions that fields are growing with so far. 5/9 We'll see whether weather this week is cool enough to slow growth much. Where the crop is pushing 20 inch tallest stems by the middle of this week, people who like harvesting early bud stage might be taking a close look at the crop, looking ahead to next week. There is noticeable variation across the area as we'd expect with different soils and moving from south to north. For the PEAQ process we measure the height of the tallest stem in a 2 foot square area where we makes stops in a field. I might measure the tallest stem at 18 inches, and there could be 12 to 14 inche stems in that area too. This usually becomes more uniform as time goes by. Bob Nelson, sampling at Lenny Hoen's near Bongard, 22 inches on 5/9, expects to see the start of some buds by the end of the week. Variation around the area is a key note...be aware of what YOUR fields are like. I checked a field near Belgrade that was only around 13 inches tall yet on 5/10. 5/12 On some farms RFV RFQ continue to run noticeably higher than PEAQ estimate. Somewhere along the way, maybe over 24 inches or so, people who make higher quality a priority, might take their first confident weather opportunity to harvest, rather than wait and risk getting stuck in the weather later. You're past experience with harvest and feed needs or counseling with your nutritionist is probably better than any guess I could try to make. Some forecast down to 30 degrees Saturday/Sunday morning - should not hurt hay crop. Down to 27-28 degrees, tops might droop over, but should straighten and keep going. At 26-27 could damage growth buds at top of stem. In 28 years, I have not seen top growth bud damage. Wouldn't mind missing that experience. Remember, getting hay and haylage up in good physical condition is just as important as trying to catch it at the righ feed quality level - fast drying is good, baling-bagging-chopping-wrapping as baleage at the right moisture, getting it off field and into storage quickly, good haylage packing, a quality haylage inoculant. Talk to neighbors or custom operators about options you might be able to use. Farmers do their best - as much as the weather and field conditions will allow.

REDUCING ASH CONTENT OF FORAGE FEED. Some people might some value in an article posted recently by Wisconsin Extension Forage Specialist Dan Undersander on this topic. "http://fyi.uwex.edu/forage/reducingash-in-forage" OR do an Internet Search for "Wisconsin Forage FYI."

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