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to view the 10 May Alfalfa-Grass 1st Cutting Quality Report.
Across the region, alfalfa and grasses progressed nicely over the past week with our cool and rainy weather. Alfalfa height averaged 13.8″, up 3.7″ from last week. The past 2 weeks have brought from 1” to 3” of badly needed rain across the North Country.
Although alfalfa height of 14-16” now indicates that 90-100% grass fields may be almost ready to mow for peak quality, they’re not quite there. We checked position of heads inside orchardgrass and tall fescue stems this week and found variation, averaging just 2-6” above the ground – so boot stage is still a few to several days off. We recommend checking your grass fields to evaluate where heads are by feeling for them inside stems. You can even cut stems open to check how far they’ve progressed. Peak grass quality is when that head is just about to emerge out the top of the stem – late boot stage.
The general order of grass species heading date from earliest to latest in NYS is: Orchardgrass > Perennial ryegrass > Smooth bromegrass = Tall fescue > Reed canarygrass > Timothy. Be sure to check the earliest varieties first.
Nitrogen should have already been applied to first cutting grass fields. At this point, it’s better to wait until immediately after first harvest to capture N with 2nd cutting regrowth.
This week’s Drought Monitor map shows improvement in soil moisture status for 
NNY and other areas of NYS and the Northeast due to the rains over the past 2 weeks. Weather stations across the North Country measured from about 1.25″ to almost 3″ of rain. This much needed precipitation has improved soil moisture, streamflow levels and has reduced areas of Abnormally Dry and Moderate Drought status across the Northeast. Despite all this rain, our soils are still not saturated, for the most part, and could take a bit more rain without surface ponding.