EASTERN Green Gold ReportJune13th

This is your final report for 2013, haying continues to advance rapidly in the area

SITE / RFV PEAQ / RFV NIR / Height / CP
IDC East / 169 / 135 / 26 / 24
New Bothwell / 173 / 153 / 25 / 28
Grunthal / 160 / 142 / 27 / 25
Kleefeld / 153 / 132 / 30 / 21
LaBroqurie / 157 / 153 / 29 / 27
Beausejour S / Harvested
Beausejour N / 169 / 147 / 26 / 27
AVERAGE / 178 / 144 / 27 / 25

From Monday toThursdaywe have seen the alfalfa grow between 1and4” and the RFV has dropped 10 points. Most of the alfalfa has advanced to the late bud stage with the Grunthal site just starting to flower.

As we wind up the Green Gold Program for 2013 I would like to thank Werner Wiebe, Cliff Banman, John Nyhof, Stephen Signer, Diana Pelletier, Steve Boerchers, and Daniel Messerli for allowing us to use their fields to help provide the information that we have put into the Green Gold report for 2013.

Also a special thanks to Diana Pelletier (Milknium Dairy) and Kristan Bouchard(MAFRI) for taking samples for me and submitting them on a timely fashion without their assistance we wouldn’t have been able to provide as wide a coverage of the Eastern part of the province.

You can access reports from the MFC website atGreen Gold 2013

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Financial Support for this project thanks to the following sponsors:

For more information contact

John McGregor

Alfalfa Flowering

Once alfalfa starts to flower it usually indicates that it is time to cut your hay no matter want type of livestock you are feeding. Alfalfa beyond full bloom doesn’t generally increase your tonnage of harvested material and as it matures it loses lower leaves rapidly, decreasing its feed value.

Cutting Height

If you haven’t cut your alfalfa by now you may want to be sure to walk the field prior to taking first cut. One of the main reasons is that some of the alfalfa may have started to initiate new growth for the second cutting. Before starting your first cut check the base or crown of the plants to see if new shoots are starting to grow. If so these new shoots are the start of your second cut. Look closely to see if this new growth is taller than your cutting height. If you cut them off as well as harvesting the growth from the first cut you will be cutting off the new growth and this could delay your second cut by as much as a week.

To avoid this problem raise your cutting height just a couple of inches to avoid cutting off this new second growth. The stubble left behind has a low feed value so you are basically sacrificing filler.

Normally I suggest leaving as short a stubble as possible when cutting alfalfa because that maximizes yield and doesn’t affect rate of regrowth, but a late cutting that already has new shoots growing is different.

Lygus Bug

At the Hay and Silage Day in Neepawa last week I found this bug in the field. It doesn’t seem to be a concern, unless you have alfalfa for seed or are growing a crop that this guy attacks next to an alfalfa field with the lygus bug. For more about it click onLygus Bug

Sponsors Appreciation

This year the Green Gold Program had a record number of sponsors. Because of their support we were able to provide coverage for a wide area of the province. I have tried to recognize them and their support in all of the Updates that you have been receiving but what is needed is for you the end user of the information to tell them how much you appreciate their involvement and support of your industry. Please be sure to thank them.