Do you remember the spring season of 2019?
Keith Johnson
To make excellent quality hay, the forage needs to be cut at the right growth stage and packaged into a bale at the right moisture content without incidence of rain damage.
As we near mid-May, it is important to have hay harvest equipment in excellent condition so the forage can be harvested at optimum quality when weather conditions allow and to reduce harvest delays because of equipment breakdowns.
The 2020 grazing season has recently started and hay harvest is going to begin soon. As the pasture gets grazed and the forage growing in the field is mown, make sure to evaluate grazing and cutting height so perennial plants have better persistence.
Harvest of cool-season perennial grasses, perennial legumes, and winter-annual small grains will begin within three weeks in Indiana.
Night time and early morning temperatures across Indiana dipped to lows (less than 28oF) on Wednesday and Thursday that may be concerning to alfalfa producers. Damage may be little to none, or possibly severe. Minimal damage may appear as new leaves emerging next week being bleached. Whereas, severe damage will have the plant losing its upright integrity and appearing water soaked (mushy). New seedlings will take on a water soaked appearance if freeze damaged. Variation in response could be extreme across a field due to differences in temperature because of topography. Older stands that were well managed last year will have a greater chance of survival. Please contact me at johnsonk@purdue.edu if damage is severe because of the freeze events.
Taking large round and large rectangular bales and wrapping them with white plastic to make bale silage (baleage) has become a common practice.
What a year it has been so far! Was there mud as livestock were fed this past winter? Did winter-damaged alfalfa fields occur and did pastures where livestock spent the winter look like a mud volleyball tournament had been played?
The beginning of damage to alfalfa leaflets (note yellowing) caused by the potato leafhopper was seen on second harvest.
We have received a number of calls about leaf spots occurring in alfalfa. Many of the common foliar diseases of alfalfa are favored by the high moisture conditions this season in Indiana.
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