Alfalfa

Timing of Last Alfalfa Cutting is Particularly Important in Dry Years

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 13:25:23 GMT

Timing of your last cutting is one of the most important factors for maintaining alfalfa persistence over winter. The Ohio Agronomy Guide recommends the ideal time is the amount of time it typically takes for alfalfa to regrow to approximately 8 inches before a “killing” frost occurs, stopping growth for the year.

What’s the value of fall regrowth?

Fall regrowth ensures the plant has sufficient sugars and carbohydrates in the root system, which is critical for winter survival. The biomass of plants above ground also helps protect the crown against harsh winter weather by helping to hold onto snow, which can help insulate plants from the drying effect of cold winds. Plant material also helps cover the soil surface, which can reduce the intensity of rapid freeze-thaw cycles that contribute to frost heave. Taking a fall harvest will provide feed this year, but often at the expense of next year’s spring yield.

Why is timing fall harvest particularly important this year?

Even though the taproot of alfalfa can continue growth during short-term dry weather, its growth is reduced by longer-term dry conditions. The drought monitor for our region indicates that much of the state is currently classified as D0, and forecasts indicate that the dry weather will persist for at least another week. This will reduce the recovery growth of alfalfa going into winter, increasing the risk that late-cut alfalfa may not regrow sufficiently before hard frosts.

If you need more feed for the winter, when should you harvest?

The best harvest option for more feed is after the fall rest period, when the alfalfa has undergone winterization. Winterization correlates to cutting after a killing freeze (23-24°F for several hours), after which the plant is dormant. This is not as stressful to the plants as cutting during winterization and can be a viable option for those who need feed and do not want to risk next year’s stand. However, remember that you should leave 5-6” of stubble, which leaves some plant tissue and helps to reduce erosion and provide some insulation during freezing and thawing cycles. The freeze-thaw risk is most significant on poorly drained soil. As dry conditions persist, your best options if feed is needed will be to harvest corn as corn silage or consider alternative feeds such as corn grain and corn stalks.

How does soil fertility impact alfalfa fall management?

Potassium (K) is critical to alfalfa growth and enhances cold tolerance during winter . Physiologically, K is needed for plants to regulate water; if K levels are too low, plants will be at greater risk of winterkill and especially desiccation-related winterkill. In fields with low soil test K (STK below 120-170 ppm for agronomic crops in Ohio, when analyzed via Mehlich-3 extraction), applying potash a few weeks before growth stops for winter allows fertilizer to enter the soil profile and begin being taken up by plants.

Even in fields with high levels of soil test K (STK), potassium uptake may have been reduced this summer and fall due to low water availability. While low water availability impacts uptake of all nutrients, K uptake is particularly sensitive to dry conditions due to interactions between K and clay particles. Currently, we do not have evidence for management options that consistently improve K uptake during fall drought.

Data Shows Larger Hay Supply and Lower Hay Prices

Wed, 22 Jan 2025 21:13:17 GMT

Larger May 1 stocks and increased year over year hay production led to larger hay supplies in 2024 (Figure 1). Total hay production in 2024 was up 3.3 percent year over year and combined with May 1 hay stocks up 46.6 percent over 2023 levels to increase the total hay supply by 7.9 percent compared to year earlier levels. The total hay supply was 1.7 percent below the ten-year average supply from 2014-2023.

(Peel)

Total hay production includes total alfalfa hay production, almost unchanged from 2023 levels and 8.4 percent below the ten-year average as well as total other hay production, up 5.5 percent year over year and 0.6 percent above the 2014-2023 average.

Coming into winter 2024/2025, Dec. 1 hay stocks were up 6.3 percent year over year, though still down 3.2 percent from the ten-year average. Hay supplies have recovered from the drought-reduced levels of 2022-2023 (Figure 1) and, as a result, hay prices have dropped from record levels (Figure 2).

(Peel)

Table 1 shows the top ten state rankings for December 1 Stocks; All Hay Production: Alfalfa Hay Production and Other Hay Production and highlights the considerable regional variation in hay production and stocks. Texas is the largest hay producer, mostly other hay, with production and Dec. 1 stocks well above average.

Alfalfa hay production was down compared to the ten-year average in some important dairy production states (California and Idaho) as well as in some mostly beef cow states (Montana and South Dakota) that depend on alfalfa hay (Table 1).

(Peel)

In many states, increased hay supplies are providing more management flexibility for cattle producers and lower hay costs are reducing annual cost of production somewhat. However, among major beef cow states, Florida, Kansas, Montana, and North Dakota, 2024 Dec. 1 hay stocks are down year over year and below the ten-year average.

Your next read: Future Proof Your Cattle Management

Wayne Springer is Tired of Paying $300 for Traited Corn Seed

Wed, 27 Jan 2021 20:11:15 GMT

Wayne Springer is tired of paying $300 for a bag of traited corn seed. Unafraid to change horses in midstream, the 60-year-old producer is transitioning from a row crop farm to a ranching operation.

Springer farms in south-central South Dakota on slightly elevated land perched just above the Nebraska border. The Gregory County producer is throwing in the towel on input costs and dancing to a tune he says is dictated by the profit line. After over 40 years at the helm, Springer is pushing his operation toward open-pollinating corn and direct-to-consumer beef .

Five miles as the crow flies from the Missouri River, against of backdrop of rolling hills, buttes and bluffs seemingly pulled straight from the film reel of Dances With Wolves, Springer and wife, DenaMarie, and brother, Terry, grow corn, soybeans, alfalfa and sudangrass across 1,200 acres of farmland and pasture. “Normal, regular farming just doesn’t cover my input costs. We’re not scared to try something new and that’s what we have to do,” Springer says.

Springer’s frustration isn’t with technology or hybrid improvements. In a summer of historic drought in the Dakotas, he says corn hung on during blistering months that once would have roasted the same fields. And soybeans ? Just a decade back, soybeans were a rarity in Springer’s farming area, yet now they are standard in every rotation. “The genetic changes have been incredible and they’re proven by the way corn and soybeans bounced back this year,” he acknowledges.

Despite the technological muscle of new hybrids and varieties, Springer says market realities are all the more powerful. “At $3 corn where is the profit? At $4 corn where is the profit?” he asks.

With 100 head of stock cows and 1,200 acres of land, Springer’s holdings made for a sizeable operation when he was a child. No more. “We all know the trend in agriculture is to get larger and larger. Reality says I have to supplement with outside income because a small farm doesn’t necessarily pay for itself,” he says.

Starting in 2018, Springer plans to replace substantial traited corn acreage with forage crops, roll the dice on 30 acres of open-pollinating corn, and potentially begin cutting seed costs. Ultimately, he intends to market cattle directly to consumers. In the rural surroundings of Gregory County, Springer says few people will pay a high premium for organic beef, but he’s aiming to fill the “in between” gap. “There’s so much meat coming into the country from all over the world right now, and nobody is sure where it’s coming from. People want born, bred, and raised in U.S. by our health standards. We can provide farm fresh meat between high-priced organic and the unknowns at the grocery store.”

It will be heavy-lifting to establish clientele. Despite Sioux Falls located three hours east and Rapid City four hours west, Springer knows he must look to the scattered urban crowd in a state with only 850,000 people. “People want beef without steroids or growth hormones, and they want cattle raised on open-pollinating corn that’s packed with nutrition,” Springer adds. “We want to utilize more of our on-farm products to feed our cattle out and minimize our deficits as far as what we put in.”

Terry, left, and Wayne grow corn, soybeans, alfalfa and sudangrass across 1,200 acres of farmland and pasture.

© Lura Roti, South Dakota Farmers Union

Terry, 65, says direct-to-consumer beef is a great opportunity brought on by the harsh realities of grain production on a small farm: “For us, less row crops means big savings on seed and chemical sprays. Even in years with good luck and great weather, the profit margin has gotten tight.”

Springer wishes he had begun the transition a decade ago, but he isn’t intimidated by the prospect and has always sought opportunity in side-stream income. A decade back, watching television on a below-zero winter night, he saw an advertisement for a corn-burning stove. With bins of corn only a stone’s throw away, Springer realized he was sitting on fuel. His 1,900 sq. ft. house is now heated by a single corn stove (125. bu per year) and he is a dealer with Dakota Corn Stove Company: “Every farmer in the country should consider a corn stove because you can heat some houses literally for a few dollars per day.”

In a converted farrowing shed, DenaMarie works her own side-stream angle, reworking old barn wood and farming implements into crosses and a wide variety of hand-made crafts. “She loves it, brings in some extra dollars and makes people very happy,” Springer says.

Springer is a man of hope and despite a tough market, he relishes every day in agriculture, and insists Providence is responsible for his farming success. “I’ll always do what I have to do, but this is my life. I’m so fortunate because I’m here on this farm by the blessing of God. I’ve been across this great country and seen true beauty, but farming here is especially beautiful to me.”

Springer admits change on a farming operation is unusual at his age, but he’s ready and filled with expectation. “I’d tell any farmer: Don’t be afraid to give anything a shot because you’re only here once,” he adds. “We are blessed to have options in this country. Just living here is proof I’ve already won the lottery.”

Snow is Good for Alfalfa

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 21:28:56 GMT

By: Bruce Anderson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension

As single digit and below zero temperatures arrive, be happy if you received snow recently. Sure, snow created some problems, but snow is good – for alfalfa.

Alfalfa loves snow. In fact, nothing can increase the chance of alfalfa surviving winter better than a nice, thick blanket of snow. Let’s see how this works.

Last fall’s moderate weather allowed alfalfa plants to harden well for winter, leaving them with a high concentration of nutrients in their roots and adequate soil moisture. This winterized condition enables alfalfa crowns and roots to withstand temperatures down as low as 5 degrees above zero.

Now I know this doesn’t sound all that cold. After all, air temperatures have gotten or will get much colder than that. Fortunately, the soil doesn’t get as cold as the air above it. And when soil is covered with a blanket of snow, this snow acts like a layer of insulation protecting the ground from bitter cold temperatures. Plus, it reduces the rate that soils and alfalfa roots dry out. This is why winters with little snow cover can cause more injury to alfalfa stands, especially if soils also are dry.

Of course, management practices in the fall influence the affect of snow on your alfalfa. Tall stubble provides some insulation value itself and it will catch more snow. Also, avoiding alfalfa harvest during the so-called risk period from mid-September through mid-October helps alfalfa roots winterize well by building up nutrients and reducing water content.

You may not like the way snow disrupts your daily routine, but remember how valuable it can be for your alfalfa.

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What To Do With October Alfalfa

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 21:28:21 GMT

Fall alfalfa often produces the best quality forage of the year.
By: Bruce Anderson, Nebraska Extension Forage Specialist

What should you do with fall alfalfa? Leave it? Cut it? Graze it? Each of these options can be correct under appropriate conditions. Making the best decision requires balancing the associated rewards and risks with each option.

CUT IT:
Rewards: Fall alfalfa often produces the best quality forage of the year. Leafy plants with fine stems grown with reduced temperature stress can result in award-winning, high value dairy hay or haylage.

Resulting forage provides immediate value compared to the delayed returns the following year by leaving it.

Minimizing the amount of alfalfa stubble entering winter has been shown to often reduce injury from alfalfa weevils the following spring.

Risks: Alfalfa dries very slowly during the cooler temperatures and shorter daylengths of fall, increasing the risk of weather damage. It can be tempting to bale before hay is adequately dry for safe storage, requiring use of costly preservatives or risking storage losses.

Heat damage, mold, or spontaneous combustion fires can occur when rich, fine-stemmed, high quality hay is packaged into tight, heavy bales, especially if it is baled just a little too damp. Plentiful nutrients in a tight, dense package that is a little too wet is an ideal environment for heat producing microbes.

High quality alfalfa that experiences weather or heat damage or mold can quickly turn into low to moderate quality forage, reducing or eliminating the potential economic benefit from taking the late season cutting.

Competition for labor from harvest of annual grain crops can be high.

Winter kill or injury may increase if the winterhardening process is disrupted by harvest. Alfalfa plants are more likely to survive winter when, following final harvest, they either have sufficient regrowth to accumulate adequate nutrient reserves or they experience little depletion of an already adequate accumulation of nutrient reserves.

GRAZE IT:
Rewards: Alfalfa can provide considerable, high quality grazing during fall, avoiding problems of slow curing and the cost of baling.

It can extend the grazing season in areas where pasture typically becomes limited in the fall.

It can be used as a protein supplement when grazed along with low quality forages such as crop residues or dormant pasture.

Risks: Bloat risk must always be understood and managed. Fully bloomed out alfalfa is of low risk but young, vegetative growth can be very dangerous. After a hard freeze, bloat risk increases for several days until plants begin to wilt, after which bloat risk declines considerably.

Fence and water may need to be added.

Stands can be damaged if fields aren’t dry and firm when grazed. Sacrifice areas or penned feeding areas may be needed to minimize damage.

Large cow pies that degrade slowly can plug sickle bar mowers at first harvest next spring.

LEAVE IT:
Rewards: Winterhardiness should be maximized with vigorous early growth next spring. Taller stubble will hold snow for extra moisture and insulation as well as provide more reliable erosion control. Heaving should be minimized. Ice damage may be reduced.

Cost of harvesting the relatively low late season yield is eliminated.

Various wildlife species may use remaining growth for shelter or as a feedstuff. (This may be considered a risk in some instances).

Risks: Use it or lose it.

Value of next year’s forage is less certain than that of the current year.

Raise Cutting Height When First Harvest Is Delayed

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 21:27:35 GMT

Have you harvested your first cutting of alfalfa yet?
By: Bruce Anderson, Nebraska Extension Forage Specialist

Rain has delayed many folks from cutting alfalfa. If you haven’t taken first cutting yet, it might help if you slightly changed the way you cut this crop.

Have you harvested your first cutting of alfalfa yet? Even if it is not blooming heavily, you might be surprised to find that it already has started to grow your next cutting.

Walk into your alfalfa field before cutting and look closely at the base or crown of the plants. Do you see short, new shoots starting to grow? If so, these new shoots are the new plants that your alfalfa hopes to turn into your second cutting.

Look closely – how tall are these new shoots? Are many of them a couple inches taller than your usual cutting height? If you cut these new shoots off – along with the first growth – your alfalfa plants will have to start a whole new set of shoots for regrowth. This could cause a delay in second cutting regrowth by as much as one week.

Fortunately, you can avoid this delay. All you need to do is raise your cutting height just a couple inches so that you avoid clipping off most of these new, second growth shoots. Your regrowth then will have a head start towards next cutting. And since the stubble you leave behind has quite low feed value anyway, the yield you temporarily sacrifice is mostly just filler.

Normally I suggest cutting alfalfa as short as possible because that maximizes yield and it doesn’t affect rate of regrowth. But a late cutting that already has new shoots growing is different.

Don’t blindly start cutting alfalfa when harvest is delayed. First look for new shoots, then raise cutting height if needed.

Are Alfalfa Weevils Out Yet?

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 21:27:25 GMT

By: Anitha Chirumamilla, SDSU Extension Entomology Field Specialist

This is the most common question I am getting from growers and the short answer is yes. A recent survey of alfalfa fields in the Nisland and Vale areas showed that the weevils are out with minimal activity. The early warm temperatures we experienced this spring are favorable for insect activity and we have already seen army cutworms feeding in winter wheat and alfalfa fields. In western South Dakota, alfalfa fields are green with 5 to 6 inches of growth on average. Although the rainfall events in the past 10 days helped with the moisture issues, the intermittent cool temperatures might have slowed the alfalfa growth.

Growing Degree Days: Influence on weevil activity

The overwintered adult weevils need a minimum of 200 accumulated degree days to begin mating and laying eggs. The growing degree day (GDD) map for alfalfa weevils (Figure 1, developed with 48° F as a base temperature starting from January 1) shows that the majority of the state surpassed the minimum GDD requirements for weevil activity by April 20. However, there are few adult weevils (Figure 2) and larvae seen in the fields which could be attributed to the intermittent cool weather. On close inspection, tiny shot-holes (Figure 3) were evident in unfolded leaves, which is characteristic of early weevil feeding damage. The adult weevils are hidden in the plant debris or at the base of the plant and are very hard to spot in the field.

Scouting for Weevils

The best way to scout for weevils at this point is to look for the shot holes in leaves and to proceed with the ‘bucket sampling’ method. Bucket sampling involves collecting about 30 alfalfa stems randomly by walking in a ‘W’ pattern and beating them hard into the bucket to count the dislodged larvae. Since the larvae are very small and feeding inside the leaf buds, visual sampling or sweep net sampling is not ideal at this time. For more information on sampling technique and economic thresholds for alfalfa weevils based on GDDs and plant height, refer to our previously published Spring is Here: Watch out for alfalfa weevils article.

It is important to scout for alfalfa weevil populations from an early stage of crop growth for successful weevil management. With more warm weather in forecast, growers are advised to be on look-out for increased weevil activity in the next couple of weeks.

Wyoming Forage Field Day July 10 at Farson

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 21:25:32 GMT

Alfalfa establishment, weed management and marketing options are among topics addressed during a morning of sessions at the Wyoming Forage Field Day Thursday, July 10, at Farson.
Activities are at the Eden Valley Community Center, 4039 Highway 191.

Forage contributed $379 million to Wyoming’s agricultural economy in 2012, said Anowar Islam, UW Extension forage specialist.

“That far exceeds sugar beets ($67 million) and corn, dry beans, barley and wheat,” said Islam, drawing from the 2013 Wyoming Agriculture Statistics publication. “There are some issues that affect that contribution. They include low productivity, poor stand establishment and poor persistence.”

Islam will facilitate the forage production and management sessions, and Donn Randall, program manager, Wyoming Business Council Agribusiness Division, will facilitate marketing sessions. Local machinery dealers will display and demonstrate equipment.
The workshops are free. The schedule is:

8:30 a.m. – Registration, welcome, program overview
9 a.m. – “Forage Establishment,” Islam
9:30 a.m. – “Forage Fertility: Improving Your Bottom Line,” Joe Brummer, Colorado State University Extension forage specialist
10 a.m. – “Weed Management in Hay Fields,” Andrew Kniss, UW associate professor specializing in weed science
10:30 a.m. – “Lander Alfalfa, Laramie Annual Medic, and WyoWinter Feed Pea for the Intermountain West and the Central Great Plains,” Robin Groose, UW professor of agroecology and plant breeding
11 a.m. – “Economics for Hay Production,” Bridger Feuz, UW Extension educator
11:30 a.m. – “Hay Marketing,” Randall
Noon – Cream can lunch
1 p.m. – Machinery equipment demonstrations, forage demonstrations, forage product reviews by participating companies

Source: Wyoming Extension

Alfalfa Weevil Survived Winter, Larvae Threaten First-cutting Hay

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 21:25:06 GMT

Profitability for alfalfa growers is at risk thanks to a wave of insects, particularly weevils.
By: Duane Dailey, University of Missouri Extension

“Alfalfa fields face a double hit by weevils this spring. There are more adult weevils than I’ve ever seen,” says Wayne Bailey.

In 29 years of scouting alfalfa fields, the University of Missouri Extension entomologist has seen lots of weevils.

His advice: Scout fields often. “Small weevils are easy to miss,” Bailey says. “A small pocket of them can expand rapidly and do lots of damage.”

There is a problem with alfalfa-weevil control this year. Cold weather lowers the effect of insecticides used to control them.

“With ground rigs, apply mixes with 20 gallons of water per acre,” Bailey says. “Ask aerial applicators to apply as much as they can carry.”

Some pilots prefer to drop rates to a half-gallon of water per acre. “That won’t give control against this population,” he says.

Bailey isn’t sure why so many adult alfalfa weevils are out laying eggs. He thinks it has to do with the extreme-cold weather last winter.

The perception was that below-zero weather kills overwintering adults. “The bugs didn’t read the book,” Bailey adds. “It seems they just dug deep in ground litter and hibernated.”

In normal years, the overwintering population stay active, laying eggs. Not this winter. The winter brood is out now, laying eggs. Those fresh-laid eggs have high survival rates. Winter-laid eggs often die before they can hatch in the spring.

The new brood of weevils will be laying eggs for weevils to emerge in May and June. Good control now will reduce that second generation.

The alfalfa faces a big threat, as every new female lays up to 500 eggs. Each egg produces a small larva that hides, and eats, in the growing tips of emerging alfalfa.

Once the tiny larvae move out of the leaf folds, they defoliate an entire plant. Larvae have a big appetite, Bailey says. Lost leaves reduce hay quantity and quality.

“Weevils cause a lot of damage in a short time.”

With the weevil population explosion, larvae are ripe for a fungal outbreak. That natural control turns the worms lemon yellow before they die. Even though larva may stay alive, once infected they stop eating.

The fatal fungus needs wet weather, which is in the forecast. But it also needs warmth, which is not in the forecast.

Bailey advises growers to prepare for spraying. And to hope for warm weather.

Another option is to cut near-mature alfalfa for hay.

But haying allows weevils to concentrate on regrowth from the alfalfa stubble. The worms nip new leaves as they emerge. Spraying probably will be needed after the first cutting for weevil control.

If regrowth is not protected, the stand thins and weeds grow to shade the alfalfa. At that point, weeds crowd out alfalfa.

Bailey gave his alfalfa-weevil alert during a weekly teleconference from the MU campus to regional specialists in the counties.

The specialists reported the best alfalfa growth was in southwestern Missouri, where the hay is near knee-high. Alfalfa growth slowed with cool, cloudy weather across the rest of the state.

“If you haven’t looked at your alfalfa, you better look,” Bailey says. “The hay crop may need help with weevil control. Natural control might not work this year.”

Bailey demonstrates techniques for scouting alfalfa for insects in a video .