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Tight window for 1st cutting alfalfa

An extension educator says farmers will have to toe a fine line to harvest a quality first cutting of alfalfa this season.

“It’s a fine line right now with rain and humidity and lots of heat for that alfalfa to grow—the alfalfa is still growing rapidly—and it makes it difficult to get in there and cut.”

Phil Kaatz with Michigan State University Extension tells Brownfield the longer cut alfalfa sits in a field before it’s harvested, the more yield potential will be reduced for the rest of the season.  “If it’s really wet, farmers are faced with a dilemma, ‘If cut and wait to harvest that alfalfa we may lose yield based on the fact that we can’t get back in.  If we delay cutting, we lose quality.’ So it’s a tossup.”

Kaatz says he has seen up to 15 percent damage to fields this year from alfalfa weevil and recommends cutting the crop for control.

For the best yield and quality, Kaatz says farmers should harvest alfalfa when the plant is 28 to 29 inches tall.

AUDIO: Interview with Phil Kaatz

 

 

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