CENTRAL Green Gold Report June 2, 2014

Here is the Second release for the Scissor Clipping Project for 2014.

SITE / RFV PEAQ / RFV NIR / Height / CP
Arborg / 230 / 166 / 17 / 31
Pilot Mound / 237 / 154 / 16 / 31
Mather
AVERAGE / 233.5 / 160 / 16.5 / 31

Fields in the Central areafrom Wednesday to Monday have grown an average of 5 inches. With the return to close to normal weather we are average growth in the crop. Fields for the most part are in the late vegetative stage but in the Pilot Mound area they are moving into the early bud stage. NIR reading have dropped 40 points over the past 5 days. Normally with Green Gold we recommend that if you are targeting 150 hay that you cut at 170 RFV for silage you can normally cut somewhere in the 160 range depending on curing time. Although the crop is still a little short, proteins are high enough to indicate that there is still a lot of quality in the forage.

Based on the numbers we presently are seeing we are at HAYDAY for those of you targeting 150 RFV hay.

Mather results aren’t available for this report but will be for the June 4th report.

.

Access all 2014 Green Gold Reports

Major funding provided thru: /

Financial Support for this project thanks to the following sponsors:

2014 MFGA Green Gold Report~ 1 ~

For more information contact:

John McGregor, MFGA Extension Support

Early Bud Stage

Below is a shot of alfalfa in the early bud stage. For the Green Gold program and PEAQ early bud is considered as1 to 2 nodes having visible buds. Buds may be hidden by leaves. To check for presence of buds pinch stem tip with fingers. Presence of a small, hard “ball” means that a bud is present.

Growing Degree Days

As of June 2 we are now at 181 for Arborg and 202 for Pilot Mound which is about 92% of normal. As mentioned earlier we normally would expect 300 GDDs to reach 180 RFV but with some high temperatures generating rapid growth we now are seeing the exception to the rule.

Common Leafspot

One of the samples this week showed a lot of brown spots on the lower leaves. Normally as we start to get close to first cut you will see some of the bottom leaves yellow and die. If you are finding brown colored spots on the lower leaves likely what you have is common leaf spot.
The disease first develops on the lower leaves and as it develops it moves up the plant. Infected leaves become yellow and drop prematurely.

Typically you will see this in alfalfa fields at or before the first cut and in the late fall. The disease likes moist and cooler conditions found in the spring and fall. The fungi survive on the infected and dead leaves found on the ground. It is spread by spores that are released into the air and infect young leaves. Early cutting of the alfalfa is about the best practice that we have as it helps to reduce the amount of leaf loss.

To Cover or Not to Cover

At this time of year some of you may have accessed your forage fields and decided it is time to replace one or more fields. Traditionally, hay and pasture land was seeded with a cover crop as a way of competing with weeds and reducing soil erosion. Here is some information that may help make the cover crop decision easier.

Click here for the Agri-News article

2014 MFGA Green Gold Report~ 1 ~