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Limited options for spotty damage in alfalfa fields

An extension educator says options are limited for farmers identifying winterkill in their alfalfa fields this spring.

Jared Goplen with the University of Minnesota tells Brownfield a mild winter with below-average snow cover across the Upper Midwest has resulted in varying degrees of poor stands.

“I’ve been working with this one farmer (who’s had) this problem where the stand is really sporadic.  The low spots are basically a total loss, and then the higher areas are still looking quite good.”

He says farmers could terminate the alfalfa and rotate into corn, depending on stand loss.

“You can get a nitrogen credit for your corn.  If you are looking for forage and you’d like to get a little more life out of that stand, you certainly could go in and plant some type of a grass or other type of forage like perennial or annual rye grass.  Or you could use a cereal grass like oats or barley.”

Another alternative is seeding a perennial grass like orchard grass as a supplement to the remaining alfalfa.

Goplen says that would help fill void spots for farmers wanting to get more years out of those fields.