May 18, 2017 Alfalfa Harvest Alert / Scissors-Cut Info

Update May 19

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 County Farm Town Hgt Mat PEAQ RFV RFQ ADF NDF NDFd 5/18 Sibley Husfeldt S. of Glencoe 28 Bud 164 182 197 28.2 34.3 44.9 5/15 Carver Dreier Norwood 23 Bud 185 186 27.9 33.6 5/18 Carver Wandersee Cologne 24 Veg 190 207 226 26.5 30.7 46.2 5/18 McLeod Krienke Lester Prairie 27 Veg 175 200 27.0 5/18 Wright Poppler Howard Lake 28 Veg 171 220 25.5 Wright Krause W Buffalo 5/18 Meeker Warren SW of Watkins 26.6 Veg 174 150 32.9 39.3 5/18 Stearns Gathje Eden Valley 25 V/B 185 201 251 22.6 33 65 5/18 Stearns Maus S Freeport 21.5 Veg 203 158 196 26.8 40 63 Stearns Frericks N Melrose 18 Veg 232 182 225 23.1 36.2 63 5/18 Benton Scapanski NE Sauk Rapids 21.2 Veg 204 190 216 28.3 32.8 50.2 5/18 Benton O & S Dairy E Rice 20.5 Veg 208 186 214 28.4 33.4 50.5 5/18 Morrison Roerick SW of Upsala 24 Veg 190 211 240 22.4 31.5 54

CP 24.1 21.2 24.6 25.2 26.0 22.3 30.3 26.5 26.9 22.4 22.5 26.3

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

Sponsors and Cooperating Agri-Businesses Paynesville Cooperative Gilman Cooperative Total Ag Business Services - Jim Kastanek Ag Venture/FormAFeed at Watkins Byron Seeds-Rick Tamm KASM 1150 AM Albany Stearns County DHIA LAB

(I will add to this list as I learn of other sponsors.) Helena Chemical, Royalton Nelson Dairy Consulting - Greg Lefebvre Vita Plus, Barry Viser United Farmers Cooperative Rich Shug & Bob Nelson KLTF 960 AM Little Falls Dairyland Lab at Sauk Rapids

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Husfeldt- Sibley Co. South of Glencoe Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/15 26 Veg 178 5/18 28 Late Bud 164

RFV 183 182

RFQ 199 197

ADF 27.9 28.2

NDF NDFd CP GDD 34.2 46.5 22.8 34.3 44.9 24.1

Notes

PEAQ RFV 240 225 185

RFV 250 221 186

RFQ

ADF 21.9 24 27.9

NDF NDFd CP GDD 26.8 22.4 29.6 21.6 33.6 21.2

Notes

PEAQ RFV 260 210 210

RFV 255 230 230

RFQ

ADF 21.7 23.8 23.8

NDF NDFd CP GDD 26.2 25 28.4 51.9 25.6 28.4 51.9 25.6

Notes

Krienke - McLeod - Near Lester Prairie Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/11 18 Veg 230 5/15 24 Veg 210 5/18 27 Veg 175

RFV 254 229 200

RFQ

ADF 22.6 25.0 27.0

NDF NDFd CP GDD 24.9 26.6 27.2 25.2

Notes

Poppler - Wright - Howard Lake Date Height Mat 5/11 18.5 Veg 5/15 25 Veg 5/18 28 Veg

PEAQ RFV 220 200 171

RFV 150 242 220

RFQ

ADF 22.4 23.9 25.5

NDF NDFd CP GDD 25.7 26.5 26.4 26.0

Notes

Krause - Wright Co - West of Buffalo Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV

RFV

RFQ

ADF

NDF NDFd

GDD

Notes

RFV 196 205

RFQ

ADF 26.7 25.0

NDF NDFd CP GDD 32.4 21 31.6 54.7 23.8

Notes

Dreier- Carver Co - Norwood Date Height Mat 5/8 16 Veg 5/11 18 Veg 5/15 23 Bud 5/18 Wandersee - Carver Co - Cologne Date Height Mat 5/11 13 Veg 5/15 20 Veg 5/18 20 Veg

Warren - Meeker Co - 5 Miles SW of Watkins Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/11 19.9 Veg 210 5/15 24.8 Veg 183 5/18 26.6 Veg 174

261 261

246

CP

few buds

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Gathje - Stearns Co- northeast of Eden Valley Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/11 15-16 Veg 235 5/15 22 Veg 200 5/18 25 V/B 185

RFV 213 209 201

RFQ 285 253 251

ADF 23.1 22.8 22.6

NDF NDFd CP GDD 31 71 32.1 31.7 64 29 33 65 30.3

Notes

Maus - Stearns Co - south of Freeport Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/15 19.5 Veg 217 5/18 21.5 Veg 203

RFV 225 158

RFQ 284 196

ADF 23.2 26.8

NDF NDFd CP GDD 29.3 65 28.7 40 63 26.5

Notes

Frericks - Stearns Co 4 miles - north of Melrose Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/18 18 Veg 232

RFV 182

RFQ 225

ADF 23.1

NDF NDFd CP GDD 36.2 63 26.9

Notes

RFV

RFQ

ADF

NDF NDFd

208 200 204 190

242 230 236 216

26.5 26.7 26.6 28.3

30.5 31.7 31.1 32.8

RFV

RFQ

ADF

NDF NDFd

220 226 223 186

252 259 256 214

25.6 24.2 24.9 28.4

29.5 28.8 29.2 33.4

52.9 53.2 53.1 50.5

RFV 208 211

RFQ 231 240

ADF 22.4 22.4

NDF 31.9 31.5

f 53 54

D Scapanski - Benton Co - Northeast of Sauk Rapids Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/11 13-15 Veg >240 5/15-1 18.8 Veg 220 5/15-2 18.8 Veg 220 5/15Av 18.8 Veg 220 5/18 21.2 Veg 204 O & S Dairy - Benton Co - East of Rice Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/11 14.4 Veg >240 5/15-1 18 Veg 224 5/15-2 18 Veg 224 5/15Av 18 Veg 224 5/18 20.5 Veg 208 Roerick - Morrison Co - southwest of Upsala Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV 5/15 21 Veg 205 5/18 24 Veg 190

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52.6 52.2 52.4 50.2

CP

GDD

Notes No Lab two samples averaged* *

GDD

Notes No Lab two samples averaged* *

21.3 22.1 21.7 22.4

CP 22.5 22.6 22.6 22.5

CP GDD 25.9 26.3

Notes

NOTES Extension Educators involved with this project include: Dan Martens, Stearn/Benton/Morrison Counties 968-5077 or 1/800,964-4929 [email protected] Colleen Carlson, Carver/Scott Counties, 952-466-5300, [email protected] Karen Johnson, McLeod, Meeker Counties 320-484-4334, [email protected] Jason Ertl, Sibly County, 507-237-4100 [email protected] 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 Feed Reps tell me 1st cutting usually has better fiber digestibility because it usually grows under cooler weather conditions.

5/11/2017 Winter Injury has been significant on some farms this year; and more decisions about fields could be made as first cutting alfalfa gets done. Field are likely to be more variable with weather stress and winter injury. I checked soil temperatur at OS Dairy where alfalfa canopy was about 14 inche in a good stand on loam soils. It was about 2:30 p.m. and read 60 degrees. 5/15/2017 Warm weather since Thursday resulted in 4 to 6 inches of growth on some fields. At the Warren farm in Meeker County, they noted "mostly vegetative-moving to bud stage. If we're supposed to get rainy weather for a chunk of this week, there could be some people looking for a weather opportunity to harvest some hay the next time the weather gives and opportunity - depending on feed goals. In Benton County at the Scapanski and O&S farms, 1 clipped two sample at each clipping location in the field because I wanted to check for sampling variation. They turned out quite similar. Sometimes in previous years, I have seen a difference from one sample day to another that is much greater than expected. That could be cause of sample differences, more than from a real difference in the field. Once again , 3 or more samples help to establish a trend line that offers more confidence in the numbes. 5/18/2017 I recorded 2.5 inches of Rain from Monday noon to Thursday morning; and I've several othe observations in this range. The two field I checked were lodged to about half their height. As expected fields farther north generally are running behind southern areas. It's probably pretty safe to say hay will be cut in some of out neighborhoods when the weather offers a chance. It's difficult to guess at how fields respond to weather conditions related to notes listed earlier. Will you get a flush of new leaves with minimal stem growth with cool weather? Cooler weather is suppose to help hold digestibility, but protein might be lower. Your Expertise and Past Experience Counts. GENERAL NOTES Your common sense and past experience means a lot. Farmers and Nutrition advisors should discuss harvest strategies related to farm needs and goals. The weather is really tough to predict or bank on. You can do a website search for "National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center for 6-10 and 9-14 day forecasts. You might use DTN or another source; and your hunch might be just as good. Some people

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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 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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