Green Gold Report â May 24, 2016 â EASTERN
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Green Gold Report – May 24, 2016 – EASTERN Hay Day is May 27th based on the alfalfa dropping 10 points/ day this past week. SITE Giroux Grunthal Kleefeld La Broquerie New Bothwell Ste. Anne Steinbach Stonewall AVERAGE
RFV NIR 176 197 209 179 226 190 190
RFV PEAQ 205 204 224 204 224 203 173 217 207
195
Height 21 20 18 20 18 17 25 19 20
CP 21 27 27 27 29 27 25 26
The alfalfa in the SE has added 1 inch/day since Thursday. With this growth the RFV has dropped 50 pts or 10 pts/day. If this continues we should be at 170 around Friday. 170 is the RFV for dry hay assuming a loss of 15-20 during the curing process. For silage you should have an extra day or 2. 1Alfalfa LaBroquerie D.Pelletier
Access all 2016 Green Gold Reports For more information contact: John McGregor, MFGA Extension Support e: [email protected], website: www.mfga.net or follow us on Twitter!
SILVER SPONSORS
BRONZE SPONSORS
2016 MFGA Green Gold Report
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MANITOBA FORAGE & GRASSLAND ASSOCIATION
What I am seeing Most of the fields in the area this week were still in the late vegetative stage but there were a couple of fields that were early bud (left) and one that was late bud (right). Four of the fields were still in the late vegetative stage as of Thursday
Alfalfa Weevil Feeding In Manitoba, we are getting reports of adult weevils feeding in alfalfa. Adult alfalfa weevil feeding has been observed at low amounts in the Virden and New Bothwell area. Adults are about ¼ inch long and brown-golden with a blunt snout and dark brown longitudinal stripe in the center of the back. Antennae are elbowed and clubbed. They overwinter in debris and alfalfa stubble. Eggs are laid inside the stems of alfalfa, and are small and cream colored. Mature larvae are about ⅜ inch long with a black head capsule and a green-wrinkled body. A white stripe, running lengthwise, can be observed across the top. The degree days for alfalfa weevil use a base development temperature of 10C and show that adults are active mainly in areas with 42 accumulated degree days (DD). Egg hatch begins at 167 accumulated DD. Presently as of the 24th of May we are at 120 DDs Although adult weevils will feed on the foliage causing defoliation, most of the economic defoliation is caused by larval feeding. Peak feeding occurs about mid-June (or 280 - 330 accumulated DD) when larvae are in the 3rd to 4thinstar. For alfalfa grown for hay, the most cost-efficient method is to cut the alfalfa early before feeding damage occurs. A treatment threshold of 40% tip feeding is recommended. Grasses Thursday I noticed that some of the grass heads are just starting to emerge. This field had some orchard grass that was just heading. I only mention this as one of the suggestions for getting top quality forage is to time your cutting when the grasses start to head and alfalfa is in the late bud stage. Not all your hay needs to be of high quality and therefore if you are looking at quantity and still have some quality letting the grasses advance beyond seed set adds little to yield. For more information on when to cut alfalfa/grass mixtures click on either of the following articles When to Make First Spring Cut of Alfalfa and Mixed Alfalfa/Grass High Quality Hay Management Growers with alfalfa and grass mixed stands should not use the GDD method to establish your cutting schedule. Consider harvesting these fields before harvesting the pure alfalfa stands. Grasses have higher NDF content than alfalfa cut at the same age. Spring harvest of alfalfa-grass mixtures is based on alfalfa maximum height and the proportion of grass in the stand. Michigan State University Extension suggests that producers consider harvesting fields that have the most grass first so purer alfalfa stands can be harvested at the appropriate NDF levels. If wet weather delays harvest, you may want to harvest the purest alfalfa stands first since fields with grass will likely be past the optimum NDF levels and may be better used for dairy rations requiring higher fiber, or for dry cows and heifers.
2016 MFGA Green Gold Report
~2
~
MANITOBA FORAGE & GRASSLAND ASSOCIATION
PLATINUM SPONSOR
Green Gold Report – May 24, 2016 – EASTERN Hay Day is May 27th based on the alfalfa dropping 10 points/ day this past week. SITE Giroux Grunthal Kleefeld La Broquerie New Bothwell Ste. Anne Steinbach Stonewall AVERAGE
RFV NIR 176 197 209 179 226 190 190
RFV PEAQ 205 204 224 204 224 203 173 217 207
195
Height 21 20 18 20 18 17 25 19 20
CP 21 27 27 27 29 27 25 26
The alfalfa in the SE has added 1 inch/day since Thursday. With this growth the RFV has dropped 50 pts or 10 pts/day. If this continues we should be at 170 around Friday. 170 is the RFV for dry hay assuming a loss of 15-20 during the curing process. For silage you should have an extra day or 2. 1Alfalfa LaBroquerie D.Pelletier
Access all 2016 Green Gold Reports For more information contact: John McGregor, MFGA Extension Support e: [email protected], website: www.mfga.net or follow us on Twitter!
SILVER SPONSORS
BRONZE SPONSORS
2016 MFGA Green Gold Report
~1
~
MANITOBA FORAGE & GRASSLAND ASSOCIATION
What I am seeing Most of the fields in the area this week were still in the late vegetative stage but there were a couple of fields that were early bud (left) and one that was late bud (right). Four of the fields were still in the late vegetative stage as of Thursday
Alfalfa Weevil Feeding In Manitoba, we are getting reports of adult weevils feeding in alfalfa. Adult alfalfa weevil feeding has been observed at low amounts in the Virden and New Bothwell area. Adults are about ¼ inch long and brown-golden with a blunt snout and dark brown longitudinal stripe in the center of the back. Antennae are elbowed and clubbed. They overwinter in debris and alfalfa stubble. Eggs are laid inside the stems of alfalfa, and are small and cream colored. Mature larvae are about ⅜ inch long with a black head capsule and a green-wrinkled body. A white stripe, running lengthwise, can be observed across the top. The degree days for alfalfa weevil use a base development temperature of 10C and show that adults are active mainly in areas with 42 accumulated degree days (DD). Egg hatch begins at 167 accumulated DD. Presently as of the 24th of May we are at 120 DDs Although adult weevils will feed on the foliage causing defoliation, most of the economic defoliation is caused by larval feeding. Peak feeding occurs about mid-June (or 280 - 330 accumulated DD) when larvae are in the 3rd to 4thinstar. For alfalfa grown for hay, the most cost-efficient method is to cut the alfalfa early before feeding damage occurs. A treatment threshold of 40% tip feeding is recommended. Grasses Thursday I noticed that some of the grass heads are just starting to emerge. This field had some orchard grass that was just heading. I only mention this as one of the suggestions for getting top quality forage is to time your cutting when the grasses start to head and alfalfa is in the late bud stage. Not all your hay needs to be of high quality and therefore if you are looking at quantity and still have some quality letting the grasses advance beyond seed set adds little to yield. For more information on when to cut alfalfa/grass mixtures click on either of the following articles When to Make First Spring Cut of Alfalfa and Mixed Alfalfa/Grass High Quality Hay Management Growers with alfalfa and grass mixed stands should not use the GDD method to establish your cutting schedule. Consider harvesting these fields before harvesting the pure alfalfa stands. Grasses have higher NDF content than alfalfa cut at the same age. Spring harvest of alfalfa-grass mixtures is based on alfalfa maximum height and the proportion of grass in the stand. Michigan State University Extension suggests that producers consider harvesting fields that have the most grass first so purer alfalfa stands can be harvested at the appropriate NDF levels. If wet weather delays harvest, you may want to harvest the purest alfalfa stands first since fields with grass will likely be past the optimum NDF levels and may be better used for dairy rations requiring higher fiber, or for dry cows and heifers.
2016 MFGA Green Gold Report
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MANITOBA FORAGE & GRASSLAND ASSOCIATION
