UWEX Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2005 Alfalfa Best Practices Dan Undersander University of Wisconsin.

UWEXUWEXDan Undersander-Agronomy Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2005© 2005

Alfalfa Best Practices

Dan UndersanderUniversity of Wisconsin


Select varieties with increased Winterhardiness

Less winterkill Less winter injury – more yield


Choose best establishment method

• Direct Seeding

• Oats with Poast Plus or Roundup

• With Companion crop•Oats•Ryegrass


Causes of Seeding Failure

Low soil pH

Loose soil

Seeding too deep



Control weeds during the first 60 days after establishment


Harvest first cutting of new seeding early

Take first cutting at 60 days after planting More additional cuttings – higher tonnage Less weed problems


Harvest first cutting of established stands by quality

50

70

90

110

130

150

170

190

1 2 3 4 5 10 20 30

Days after Midbud

Rel

ativ

e Fe

ed V

alue

First Cutting

Second Cutting

Third Cutting

September growth


Variation in forage quality among years

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

260

280

5/3 5/13 5/23 6/2 6/12 6/22

Date

RF

V

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999


Forage Quality Stick


Cutting Height Effect on Forage Yield by Cutting

Clark and Wood County, WI 1999-2000

2 3 4 5 6 7

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5 Cut 1Cut 2Cut 3Cut 4

Cut Height (inches above soil)

Yie

ld (to

ns D

M/a

c)


Total Forage Yield (3 cuts)


2 3 4 5 6 7

2

3

4

5

6

y = 5.9 - 0.5x

R2 = 0.65


Yie

ld (to

ns D

M/a

c)


RFV by Cutting

2 3 4 5 6 7

120

140

160Cut 2Cut 3Cut 4

Cut 1

Avg slope = 4


Re

lati

ve

Fe

ed

Va

lue



Effect of mower type on alfalfa stand and yield

Average First Cut Yield

(t/a)

Stand Persistence

Plants per sq ft

Sickle Cutterbar

1.47 6.2

Disc mower 1.49 6.2


Conditioner types

Flail/impellers

Rubber Rolls


Rollers vs flail (impeller) conditioners


Conditioner drying rates

Alfalfa Grass


Conditioner field losses

Flail conditioners have 2 to 3 % higher field losses with alfalfa.

The loss is all leaves so forage quality is significantly reduced.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Weeks from early bud stage

ND

F (

% o

f D

M)

Stems

Leaves


Adjust conditioner properly Tension on rollers Spacing of rollers


Adjust conditioner roller spacing

Measure clearance where “Crimp” or

smallest clearance occurs


Put hay into wide swath

Dries faster Higher TDN


Minimize wheel traffic damage

No traffic

Traffic


Minimize wheel traffic damage


Managing to Reduce Wheel Traffic Loss

Minimize driving on field Use smallest tractor for equipment Merge windrows where possible Go to larger equipment Take most direct route to edge of field Make road to drive on


Managing to Reduce Wheel Traffic Loss

Minimize driving on field Do driving on field soon after harvest

Manage to dry forage quickly Harvest for haylage or baleage Use preservative and harvest wet hay

Use of duals not recommended Apply manure quickly after cutting



Assess stands and replace when thin


Yield is the most important component of profitability Fixed costs same regardless of yield

e.g. taxes, land costs, machinery depreciation

Production costs similar Harvesting costs similar

Slightly higher for extra fuel and labor to harvest higher yield and haul to barn


Alfalfa Yield and Dollar Return from Wisconsin Green-Gold Program

$0

$200

$400

$600

$800

$1,000

2 4 6 8

Yield (t/ a)

Dollar

Retu

rn p

er

acre

Profitability increases with yield because fixed inputs remain constant and variable inputs increase only slightly as yield increases.


Yield of alfalfa as stand ages (% of 1st production year)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

seedyr 1 2 3 4 5 6

Ages of Stand (Years)

Yie

ld (

% o

f 2n

d Y

ear)


Stand assessment –


Benefits of shorter rotations are great:

Increased alfalfa yield from younger stands Increased corn silage yield following alfalfa 10 to 15% higher corn yields following alfalfa More legume credits Less rootworm insecticide needed following

alfalfa


Alfalfa Legume Credits

Med, Fine Soils Sandy Soils

-----Regrowth after last cutting------

>8 inches

<8 inches

>8 inches

<8 inches

Stand Density -------lb nitrogen/acre------Good, > 4 plt/ft2 190 150 140 100Fair, 1.5 to 4 plt/ft2

160 120 110 70

Poor, < 1.5 plt/ft2

130 90 80 40


Alfalfa Stem Count and Yield Potential

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65

Stems per Square Foot

Dry

Mat

ter

Yie

ld (t

/a)

UWEX Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2005 Alfalfa Best Practices Dan Undersander University of Wisconsin.

Documents

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uwex dan undersanderagronomy

yield slide

quality slide

establishment slide

deep slide

traffic traffic slide

higher tdn slide