WESTERN Green Gold Report June 4, 2014
Here is the Third release for the Scissor Clipping Project for 2014.
SITE / RFV PEAQ / RFV NIR / Height / CPDauphin / 205 / 209 / 21 / 35
Makinak / 230 / 161 / 17 / 23
Virden / 229 / 175 / 16 / 31
McAuley / 229 / 167 / 16 / 35
AVERAGE / 223.25 / 178 / 17.5 / 31
Over the past 2 days we have seen the alfalfa in this area increase 3 inches with the Makinak site jumping 5.Alfalfa fields in the south half of the area are reported in the early bud stage while those to the north are still in the vegetative stage. Looking at GDDs the south is close to 200 while the north is still in the 175 range. We are seeing a slight increase in NIR –RFV from Monday. This isn’t unusual but it does indicate that the alfalfa quality has improved likely due to an increase in the leaf to stem ratio.
Last week there were reports of hail in the Virden area with damage estimated in the 15-20% range. I’ve included some information on how hail affects alfalfa in the report.
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2014 MFGA Green Gold Report~ 1 ~
For more information contact:
John McGregor, MFGA Extension Support
Hail on Alfalfa
Typically when we have hail damage in alfalfa damage can be to the terminal bud, some leaf damage, to complete defoliation and crop lodging. When hail damages to growing point (top of each stem) it prevents any further growth from this point and the plant must re-grow from buds on branches further down the plant or from the crown buds.
Yield losses will vary depending on when the hail hit and how sever (% damage). Information out of Wisconsin suggests that 35 lbs of dry matter is lost with every percentage point of defoliation if damage occurs within 2 weeks of harvest. Other losses maybe quality and or delayed harvest if damage occurs greater than 2 weeks prior to harvest. For more information on this click on Hail
Rain on Alfalfa
Although haying is just underway the 5mm rain recently has some thinking about waiting.
There are many studies on this and they have determined that a one inch rain 24 hours after being cut can cause losses of up to 22% in dry matter. Whereas a 1.6 inch rain over several day caused a loss or 44%.
The loss is due to leaching of nutrients like the carbohydrates and plant respiration which occurs until the plant reaches 30-40% moisture and each time it gets rained on. It is interesting that the studies show that hay that is almost dry enough to be baled will lose more dry matter when rained on than hay that has just been cut.
Crude protein doesn’t seem to be affect by rain but digestibility is lower due to the leaching of the carbohydrates and the ADF and NDF will increase.
Grass hay often will not experience the same degree of loss as alfalfa hay. The majority of yield loss in alfalfa hay is due to leaf loss. Grass leaves are not as easily lost.For more information on this click onRAIN
Shorting Drying Times
Understanding how cut hay dries and how losses occur during cutting, conditioning, raking and baling is the first step in choosing techniques for maintaining the quality of cut hay. Rain is most detrimental to hay quality if it occurs in the first day or two after cutting when danger of leaching losses is higher. Two inches of rain in a single event is less detrimental than a half-inch of rain over four days, because wet plants respire longer, compromising quality and dry matter.
A cut plant continues to respire loosing sugars until it drops to below 40% moisture so shorting the time it takes to go from 80 to 40% increases the energy content of the hay. Techniques like wide swaths, conditioning the hay and time of day can speed the drying process and enable you to put up hay in better condition. For more information on making better quality hay click on High Quality Hay Management
2014 MFGA Green Gold Report~ 1 ~