Green Gold Report â May 26, 2016 â CENTRAL
PLATINUM SPONSOR
PLATINUM SPONSOR
Green Gold Report – May 26, 2016 – CENTRAL Hay Day is May 30th This release for the Central area is somewhat late due to the fact that we sampled on Thursday rather than on the Wednesday. This delay caused some of the samples to get to the lab late and results weren’t available till today. SITE Newton Plum Coulee Mather
AVERAGE
RFV NIR 171 226 203
RFV PEAQ 217 268 229
Height 19 12 16
CP 24 25 29
200
238
16
26
Most producers are reporting that the alfalfa is in the late veg stage as of the 26th. The field at Mather is early bud. The area has seen significant rainfall and this is helping with any dry conditions that may have existed. Over the past 2 days the alfalfa has grown about one inch. RFV continue to drop at about 7 pts/day. The area around Portage has reach the optimum stage but the other areas are still 3-4 days from this point. 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
Alfalfa Weevil I haven’t had any reports from the Central area regarding alfalfa weevil feeding but I did find this guy in a field in the SE on Monday May 30th. With the potential delay in cutting due to rain growers may want to be checking fields for feeding damage. Cutting Height Often I get the question about what height to cut alfalfa. Generally with first cut it is recommended to leave stubble as short as possible therefore maximizing yield. There is about 250 lbs of forage in every inch of crop. The stubble that you leave behind has a low feed value and is mostly filler. If we were to get a delay with first cut you may want to leave taller stubble to improve the quality of harvested forage. The lowest sections of the alfalfa plant are typically higher in fiber and have fewer high quality leaves present. If growers raise their cutting height to leave these high-fiber basal stem sections in the field, they may increase forage quality. Another critical aspect of managing grasses in alfalfa stands is to watch the cutting height. Grasses need to re-grow from the stubble above ground left in the field. Alfalfa regrows from the crown, which is below ground. If a mixed stand of grass and alfalfa is cut at a 2" height, the grasses will not grow back as fast as the alfalfa and will be more prone to not surviving. This is particularly a concern with disc mowers. A disc mower needs to adjusted to a 3-4" cutting height. This cutting height will also help to reduce soil contamination in forage as well. See article on Soil Contamination But before you set your cutter bar as low as it will go it is a good idea to walk into your alfalfa field and look closely at the base or crown of the plants. What you are looking for is new shoots that are starting to grow along with the first growth. If you see new this shoots these are the new sets of shoots for the second cut. By cutting off the tips of this new growth you could be delaying second cut by as much as a week. In the photo below you can see that there is some new growth happening in this field but not very much. If you are seeing a fair amount of this type of growth it is best to raise your cutter bar and leave a bit more stubble. Shorting Drying Times Understanding how cut hay dries and how losses occur during cutting, conditioning, raking and baling is the first step in choosing techniques for maintaining the quality of cut hay. Rain is most detrimental to hay quality if it occurs in the first day or two after cutting when danger of leaching losses is higher. Two inches of rain in a single event is less detrimental than a half-inch of rain over four days, because wet plants respire longer, compromising quality and dry matter. A cut plant continues to respire loosing sugars until it drops to below 40% moisture so shorting the time it takes to go from 80 to 40% increases the energy content of the hay. Techniques like wide swaths, conditioning the hay and time of day can speed the drying process and enable you to put up hay in better condition. For more information on making better quality hay click on High Quality Hay Management 2016 MFGA Green Gold Report
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MANITOBA FORAGE & GRASSLAND ASSOCIATION
PLATINUM SPONSOR
Green Gold Report – May 26, 2016 – CENTRAL Hay Day is May 30th This release for the Central area is somewhat late due to the fact that we sampled on Thursday rather than on the Wednesday. This delay caused some of the samples to get to the lab late and results weren’t available till today. SITE Newton Plum Coulee Mather
AVERAGE
RFV NIR 171 226 203
RFV PEAQ 217 268 229
Height 19 12 16
CP 24 25 29
200
238
16
26
Most producers are reporting that the alfalfa is in the late veg stage as of the 26th. The field at Mather is early bud. The area has seen significant rainfall and this is helping with any dry conditions that may have existed. Over the past 2 days the alfalfa has grown about one inch. RFV continue to drop at about 7 pts/day. The area around Portage has reach the optimum stage but the other areas are still 3-4 days from this point. 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
Alfalfa Weevil I haven’t had any reports from the Central area regarding alfalfa weevil feeding but I did find this guy in a field in the SE on Monday May 30th. With the potential delay in cutting due to rain growers may want to be checking fields for feeding damage. Cutting Height Often I get the question about what height to cut alfalfa. Generally with first cut it is recommended to leave stubble as short as possible therefore maximizing yield. There is about 250 lbs of forage in every inch of crop. The stubble that you leave behind has a low feed value and is mostly filler. If we were to get a delay with first cut you may want to leave taller stubble to improve the quality of harvested forage. The lowest sections of the alfalfa plant are typically higher in fiber and have fewer high quality leaves present. If growers raise their cutting height to leave these high-fiber basal stem sections in the field, they may increase forage quality. Another critical aspect of managing grasses in alfalfa stands is to watch the cutting height. Grasses need to re-grow from the stubble above ground left in the field. Alfalfa regrows from the crown, which is below ground. If a mixed stand of grass and alfalfa is cut at a 2" height, the grasses will not grow back as fast as the alfalfa and will be more prone to not surviving. This is particularly a concern with disc mowers. A disc mower needs to adjusted to a 3-4" cutting height. This cutting height will also help to reduce soil contamination in forage as well. See article on Soil Contamination But before you set your cutter bar as low as it will go it is a good idea to walk into your alfalfa field and look closely at the base or crown of the plants. What you are looking for is new shoots that are starting to grow along with the first growth. If you see new this shoots these are the new sets of shoots for the second cut. By cutting off the tips of this new growth you could be delaying second cut by as much as a week. In the photo below you can see that there is some new growth happening in this field but not very much. If you are seeing a fair amount of this type of growth it is best to raise your cutter bar and leave a bit more stubble. Shorting Drying Times Understanding how cut hay dries and how losses occur during cutting, conditioning, raking and baling is the first step in choosing techniques for maintaining the quality of cut hay. Rain is most detrimental to hay quality if it occurs in the first day or two after cutting when danger of leaching losses is higher. Two inches of rain in a single event is less detrimental than a half-inch of rain over four days, because wet plants respire longer, compromising quality and dry matter. A cut plant continues to respire loosing sugars until it drops to below 40% moisture so shorting the time it takes to go from 80 to 40% increases the energy content of the hay. Techniques like wide swaths, conditioning the hay and time of day can speed the drying process and enable you to put up hay in better condition. For more information on making better quality hay click on High Quality Hay Management 2016 MFGA Green Gold Report
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MANITOBA FORAGE & GRASSLAND ASSOCIATION
