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Alfalfa needs to be harvested on time

 

An extension specialist recommends stopping planting if first cutting alfalfa is ready to be harvested.

Michigan State University Extension forage specialist Kim Cassida says farmers can’t make up lost forage quality if they’re late with their first cutting.  “Stop planting your corn.  Harvest the alfalfa on time and then go back to planting your corn because you’re going to take a bigger hit in value from having your alfalfa be late than you are from having your corn be late.”

Cassida says every day alfalfa harvest is delayed can cost up to $16 per ton, or a half a pound of milk when fed, compared to about $12 per day of lost corn yield.  “If you do end up with poor forage quality on your alfalfa, you really can’t make that up by feeding more corn.”

She recommends using Predictive Equations for Alfalfa Quality, or PEAQ, stick methods to determine when to harvest alfalfa, which is more accurate when the weather is abnormal like this year.

AUDIO: Kim Cassida’s comments during MSU’s virtual breakfast