May 26, 2016 Alfalfa Harvest Alert / Scissors-Cut Information 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. "Mat" is Maturity of most mature stem 1=Veg 2=Bud 3=Flower Date Farm County Town Hgt Mat PEAQ RFV RFQ ADF 5/18 Husfeldt Sibley S. of Glencoe 25.2 50%B 179 183 206 27.4 5/16 Dreier 1 Carver Norwood 27 Bud 165 220 24.9 5/16 Dreier 2 Carver Norwood 27 Bud 165 220 24.7 5/16 Dreier 3 Carver Norwood 26 Bud 170 203 25.9 5/19 Hoen Carver Bongard 27 Bud 165 178 30.1 5/16 Krienke McLeod Lester Prairie 26.5 Bud 175 210 244 23.7 5/18 Rickeman McLeod Hutchinson 23.8 30%B 188 216 241 23.8 5/16 Poppler Wright Howard Lake 26 Bud 172 226 265 23.4 5/16 Krause Wright W Buffalo 23 Veg 185 207 235 23.6 5/18 Fisher Meeker Forest City 25.5 40%B 181 213 245 24.0 5/23 Gathje Stearns Eden Valley 24 Veg 190 187 196 24.6 5/19 Maus Stearns S Freeport 20 Veg 211 213 243 21.7 5/23 Frericks Stearns N Melrose 26 1.5 180 162 185 25.8 5/26 Winkleman Benton E Duelm 26 Bud 172 163 178 30.2 5/26 Scapanski** Benton NE Sauk Rapids 29 Bud 160 152 163 32.4 5/26 O & S Dairy** Benton E Rice 26 Bud 172 164 180 30.2 5/19 Roerick Morrison SW of Upsala 24 veg 190 209 249 24.4 ** Average of 2 Samples
Updated May 27 5 PM
NDF NDFd 34.3 47.9 29.4 29.5 31.4 34.3 31.2 51.7 29.4 49.3 29.1 54.7 31.8 59 30.6 52.3 34.7 54 31.4 60 39.5 58 37.2 45.5 39.1 43.7 37.1 46.0 31.2 62
CP 21.3 25.5 25.5 22.6 24.0 22.0 24 25.6 25.8 23.4 29.6 26.1 23.9 21.6 20.3 21.8 29.4
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 test or what the PEAQ stick or chart indicates - because of harvest and storage loss. So harvest might start when fresh-cut sample PEAQ RFV numbers are 15 to 25 points higher than the feed target. The PEAQ RFV number indicates what 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. As 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 an 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 5/16 25-26? Veg 184 5/18 25.2 50%B 179
RFV 190 209 183
RFQ 209 243 206
ADF 26.6 24.2 27.4
NDF NDFd CP Lignin 33.3 47.5 23.7 6.06 31.3 52.1 23.6 5.63 34.3 47.9 21.3 6.21
Notes
Dreier 1- Carver Co - Norwood Date Height Mat 5/2 15 Veg 5/5 18 Veg 5/9 22 Veg 5/12 25 Veg 5/16 27 Bud
PEAQ RFV 255 225 200 185 165
RFV 306 260 229 189 220
RFQ
ADF 18.9 22.7 24.8 28.1 24.9
NDF NDFd CP Lignin 22.5 29.9 25.5 30 28.3 26.7 33 50.1 26.3 5.6 29.4 25.5
Notes
Dreier 2- Carver Co - Norwood Date Height Mat 5/2 15 Veg 5/5 17 Veg 5/9 21 Veg 5/12 24 Veg 5/16 27 Bud
PEAQ RFV 255 230 205 190 165
RFV 322 248 239 174 220
RFQ
ADF 18.6 23.4 23.3 29.4 24.7
NDF NDFd CP Lignin 21.5 31.6 26.5 28.6 27.5 26.8 35.3 51.6 28 6.39 29.5 25.5
Notes
Dreier 3- Carver Co - Norwood Date Height Mat 5/2 15 Veg 5/5 18 Veg 5/9 21 Veg 5/12 24 Veg 5/16 26 Bud
PEAQ RFV 255 225 205 190 170
RFV 323 261 200 184 203
RFQ
ADF 18 22.1 26.6 28.6 25.9
NDF NDFd CP Lignin 21.5 30.1 25.5 30 31.7 24.7 32.6 51.7 27.3 6.12 31.4 22.6
Notes
Hoen - Carver Co - Bongard Date Height Mat 5/5 18 Veg 5/9 22 Veg 5/12 25 Veg 5/16 25.5 Bud 5/19 27 Bud
PEAQ RFV 225 200 185 174 165
RFV 238 219 189 205 178
RFQ
ADF 24.4 24.1 28.5 25.6 30.1
NDF NDFd CP Lignin 27.3 29.1 29.9 26.3 32.8 25.6 31.3 54.8 25.0 5.36 34.3 24.0
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 5/16 26.5 Bud 175
RFV 276 213 198 210
RFQ 326 250 230 244
ADF 19.0 24.0 25.7 23.7
NDF NDFd CP Lignin Notes 25.0 56.0 25.0 4.43 30.6 52.8 23.7 5.35 32.4 49.7 23.4 5.68 31.2 51.7 22.0 5.35 Cut after 5/16
213
203
214
244
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Below
Rickeman - McLeod - South of Hutchinson Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/9 20.5 Veg 208 5/12 22.2 Veg 199 5/16 22 Veg 197 5/18 23.8 30%B 188
RFV 236 227 214 216
RFQ
Poppler - Wright - Howard Lake Date Height Mat 5/5 17.5 Veg 5/9 20.5 Veg 5/12 24.5 1.1 5/16 26 Bud
PEAQ RFV 235 203 195 172
248 248 241
ADF 22.6 23.7 24.1 23.8
NDF NDFd CP Lignin 28.1 28.2 28.9 48.2 26.5 5.45 30.6 52.2 24.2 5.6 29.4 49.3 24 5.6
Notes
RFV 337 249 215 226
RFQ 407 284 251 265
ADF 17.0 21.8 28.9 23.4
NDF NDFd CP Lignin Notes 21.0 64.6 30.0 3.86 26.8 56.4 26.2 4.62 30.1 48.2 26.5 5.36 29.1 54.7 25.6 5.13 Cut after 5/16
Krause - Wright Co - west of Buffalo Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/12 19-20 Veg 218 5/16 23 Veg 185
RFV 205 207
RFQ 227 235
ADF 23.4 23.6
NDF NDFd CP Lignin 32.1 57 27.9 5.6 31.8 59 25.8 6.5
Notes
Fisher - Meeker Co - north of Forest City Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/12 23 Veg 195 5/16 23.4 40%Bud 189 5/18 25.5 40%B 181
RFV 218 203 213
RFQ 245 239 245
ADF 24.5 24.5 24.0
NDF NDFd CP Lignin 29.8 51 24.6 5.24 31.9 54.2 24.3 5.25 30.6 52.3 23.4 5.49
Notes
Gathje - Stearns Co- northeast of Eden Valley Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/9 17 Veg 230 5/12 18 Veg 225 5/16 18 Veg 225 5/19 21 Veg 205 5/23 24 Veg 190
RFV 184 174 207 202 187
RFQ 200 191 231 244 196
ADF 24.7 26.0 23.3 24.3 24.6
NDF NDFd CP Lignin 35.2 61 31.8 6.1 36.6 61 29.5 5.9 31.8 58 30.3 5.5 32.2 66 29.6 7.6 34.7 54 29.6 5.2
Notes
Maus - Stearns Co - south of Freeport Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/12 16.5 Veg 237 5/16 18 Veg 224 5/19 20 Veg 211
RFV 241 260 213
RFQ 271 287 243
ADF 20.6 19.6 21.7
NDF NDFd CP Lignin 28.2 62 31.2 5.4 26.4 59 28.4 5.5 31.4 60 26.1 5.4
Notes
Frericks - Stearns Co 4 miles - north of Melrose Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV RFV RFQ ADF NDF NDFd CP Lignin Notes 5/12 16.5 Veg 237 204 239 21.8 32.8 65 31.1 5.3 5/16 19 Veg 220 232 254 20.4 29.3 56 23.4 5.3 5/19 22 Veg 200 188 217 24.3 34.6 61 24.1 6.1 5/23* 26 1.5 180 162 185 25.8 39.5 58 23.9 6 *Vern says lots of multileaf expression, sometimes improves tests, dependin on what stem is also doing Page 3 of 6
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 5/16 18.7 Veg 221 5/19 19 1.3 212 5/23 23 Bud 185 5/26 26 Bud 172
RFV RFQ ADF NDF NDFd CP Lignin Notes No Lab Sample 256 318 20.8 26.3 62.1 26.4 4.55 205 237 25.3 31.3 51.4 23.5 5.62 256 308 20.4 26.4 58.5 25.0 4.6 Test too high 224 266 22.9 29.5 55.8 22.1 5.07 169** 188 29.1 36.3 46.2 22 6.64 163 178 30.2 37.2 45.5 21.6 6.99 **I'd bet more on the 185 D Scapanski - Benton Co - Northeast of Sauk Rapids Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV RFV RFQ ADF NDF NDFd CP Lignin Notes 5/5 14 Veg >240 No Lab Sample 5/9 18.6 Veg 221 242 289 22.6 27.4 59.6 24.0 4.9 5/12 21 Veg 205 223 254 24.1 29.3 52.2 24.8 5.28 5/16 22 Veg 200 263 313 20.3 25.8 58.7 25.2 4.45 5/17* 22 Veg 200 225 260 23.3 29.3 54 23.2 4.98 *This is an average of 3 separate taken as a check for 5/16 results. I'd put more stock in this average. Could be that Winkelman's should follow this pattern too, though maybe not as far along. 5/19A 24 1.5 185 229 272 22.6 28.9 56.6 22.9 5.03 5/19B 24 1.5 185 228.4 273 22.77 28.99 57.3 22.8 4.91 5/19* 24 1.5 185 229 273 22.7 29.0 56.9 22.8 4.97 *Average Actually have to look a little bit to find bud material 5/23A 26 Bud 172 171 189 29.4 35.9 45.8 21.3 6.89 5/23B 26 Bud 172 174 191 29 35.4 45.8 21.7 6.72 5/23* 26 Bud 172 173 190 29.2 35.7 45.8 21.5 6.81 *Average 5/26A 29 Bud 160 146 158 33.2 40.2 43.9 19.8 7.3 5/26B 29 Bud 160 157 168 31.6 38.0 43.5 20.9 7.1 5/26* 29 Bud 160 152 163 32.4 39.1 43.7 20.3 7.2 O & S Dairy - Benton Co - East of Rice Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV RFV RFQ 5/5 13 Veg >240 No Lab Sample 5/9 16 Veg 237 272 324 5/12 18 Veg 224 242 272 5/16 18.5 Veg 220 237 283 5/19A 21 1.5 200 245 287 5/19B 21 1.5 200 229.7 270 5/19* 21 1.5 200 237 279 Actually have to look a little bit to find bud material 5/23A 24 1.5 185 189 214 5/23B 24 1.5 185 180 204 5/23* 24 1.5 185 184 209 5/26A 26 Bud 172 163 178 5/26B 26 Bud 172 166 183 5/26* 26 Bud 172 164 180
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ADF
NDF NDFd
CP
Lignin
Notes
20.2 23 22.3 21.6 22.2 21.9
25.0 27.3 28.1 27.4 29 28.2
58.7 52.4 57 56.4 56.5 56.5
25.7 26.2 22.9 23.3 23 23.1
4.5 5.06 4.9 4.99 4.92 4.96
*Average
27.3 27.7 27.5 30.5 30.0 30.2
33.3 34.8 34.0 37.3 36.9 37.1
48.9 48.3 48.6 45.5 46.6 46.0
21.8 6.38 21.6 6.37 21.7 6.38 21.6 6.9 22.1 6.9 21.8 6.9
*Average
Roerick - Morrison Co - southwest of Upsala Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/10 20 Veg 211 5/12 22 Veg 200 5/16 20 Veg 211 5/19 24 Veg 190
RFV 219 207 243 209
RFQ 253 245 271 249
ADF 22.7 23.8 21.6 24.4
NDF NDFd CP Lignin 30.3 62 30.2 6.5 31.6 64 31.4 5.2 27.6 57 28.7 6.5 31.2 62 29.4 5
Notes
Sponsors and Cooperating Agri-Businesses (I will add to this list as I learn of other sponsors.) Nelson Dairy Consulting - Greg Lefebvre Vita Plus, Barry Viser United Farmers Cooperative at Waconia Total Ag Business Services - Jim Kastanek Rich Shug & Bob Nelson Feedstuff Bagging - Dennis Yager Ag Venture/FormAFeed at Watkins Helena Chemical KASM 1150 AM Albany KLTF 960 AM Little Falls Stearns County DHIA LAB 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] 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 Ratio and Lower Fiber accordingly. So you can think about the results of different combinations of these. It's not always a clear conclusion. Some Data suggests 1st cutting usually has better fiber digestibility because it usually grows under cooler weather conditions.
5/16 Frost Caller: Do NOT cut hay just because it had frost on it. With any crop, be patient for a day or two to get a better handle on what happened. White frost can actually form at even maybe 33 degrees. I doesn't matter if a few leaves freeze. The small tuft of young leaves where the growing point can still be fine. I'd only think about cutting early because of frost if the top 3-4 inches of the plant was totally dead so I really knew the top growing point was dead.... AND it was tall enough so I could acutally find something in a swath that was useful to pick up.... AND I knew I could handle some pretty lush "high-octane" hay in a ration without causing more problems.... AND maybe the field had strong growth through the fall season so I knew it put down plenty of root reserves to be able to get up and get going again easily. I'd also consider how tall the crop is and how far into May it is. If the top growing point is really dead, it's possible for new growth to start at lower leaf joint auxillary buds. It might take a few days or a week for this to catch up with what would have been. Don't forget your common sense and past experience. I don't have a lot of experience actually making harvest decisions where my living depends on it. You have that experience with your farm, your customers, your nutrition advisor, etc. You might talk with your nutrition advisor about whether they'd be more disappointed workign with something 20 point higher than normal targets or 20 points lower . The weather is really tough to predict or bank on.
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You can do a website search for "National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center for 6-10 and 914 day forecasts. You might use DTN or another source; and your hunch might be just as good. Some people don't try to dance around the weather too much. See Jeff Coulter's discussion about Frost and Corn at http://blog-crop-news.extension.umn.edu.
5/19 Reports of hay being cut. Some is probably actually ready. Some is maybe cut with the goal of getting ahead of what people think of the weather next week. Some fields don't seem to grow much. Some tests are off from what seems to be a trendline.
A thoughtful walk in the field related to what farmers see the hay to be like based on past field and feeding experience is core to the process. Where I'm finding buds , they are very small yet on 3 Benton farms and very seldom visible without looking for them in the top leaf material." On PEAQ Stick charts the from 20 to 25 inches the difference between calling it veg or bud is 9 or 10 RFV points. I might be accounting for a little too much bud in these fields. One cooperator reports watching a neighbor cut and thinking , there's not a lot of hay in that swath. For an immature crop, it sometimes shows more shrink in drying. LIGNIN % is now noted in one of the extra columns in the individual farm listings. One the lab reports for these samples it says: Lignin: Average 7.53; Normal Range 5.53 - 9.53. As I thought about RFV RFQ lab tests running generally high than PEAQ estimates, I wondered how lignin number have bee running. It's worth asking what the margin of error is on a lignin test and thinking about some other things. Where RFQ run a bit higher, I think it's logical that lignin would be lower. It seems like in many years where there is a spread between PEAQ and Lab RFVs and RFQs, these number get closer at harvest maturity approaches. With the general variations we see in numbers from sample to sample, that can be hard to identify clearly. 5/23 More of the crop is getting to the place of having more visible buds, and people are problaby considering the weather in the context of feed needs. There's probably some crop that's not quite where people would like it to be. Some may be a little past it's prime in a few days. Always putting it up the best you can, when you can - counts. As a savvy farmer said today, if it gets a more mature than we care for, we'll aim to harvest another cutting earlier and put rations together the best we can. It's not always the same. 5/26 Greg Lefebvre reports a lot of hay not cut yet from a lot of Benton County, Some of Stearns and on up to Long Prairie and Staples . So for what ever perspective people might gain, I'll share what I have from Benton County on May 26. I think I errored in updating individual farm pages, but not page 1 recently. I think I have this right now. Remember, getting hay and haylage up in good physical condition is just as important as trying to catch it at the right 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 find some value in an article posted recently by Wisconsin Extension Forage Specialist Dan Undersander on this topic. "http://fyi.uwex.edu/forage/reducing-ash-in-forage" OR do an Internet Search for "Wisconsin Forage FYI."
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