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| Cold temperatures worrying many Midwest hay growers |
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| Norb Davis was in the other day to talk about his alfalfa, among other things. The cold temperature the first two weeks in April have turned it almost gray. How much damage is too much?
Is there anything you, a producer can do? The growth of the alfalfa stem occurs at the tip. When the temperatures are in the low 20s, as they were a couple of mornings, frost may destroy the growing point. Thus, the stem would be stunted. A good rule of thumb to follow is, if one third of the stem or more has wilted and is drying up, cut it.
This will allow earlier development of a new growth. If the damage is less, let the harvest go until normal time.
The plants should recover enough to allow a near normal harvest, just lower yield. If you decide to cut the hay now, a second cutting should be delayed until it is in mid-bloom.
This will allow the plant to recover some stored food reserves.
You need to decide if the hay is too short to bale. It may be smarter to just leave it alone and accept the reduced yield in the first cutting.
Alfalfa should be ready to harvest in about four weeks anyway. If you do decide to harvest, it should probably go in a silo or bag, or silage bale.
Christian Krupe, Purdue University pest management specialist, noted in a news release last week that the relatively mild winter we had may mean more danger from alfalfa weevil.
Let’s hope he wrote the article on March 30, when the temperature was 80 degrees F. We reached 300 heat units at Jackson by April 9.
This is the point where we need to start watching for the pest. The cold snap is sure to slow them down; I’m not sure about getting rid of any of them.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Steve Bartels may write to him in care of this publication. |
| 4/18/2007 |
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