This is the SCNY Team’s final week of monitoring heights for first cutting quality in 2019. The full report for the six-county region can be found in the following link: Alfalfa Height Reporting Sheet 5.28.2019. The updated field map for measurements this year can be found here.
From Janice Degni, The SCNY Dairy & Field Crops Team’s Field Crop Specialist:
A nice stretch of weather over the Memorial Day Weekend allowed a lot of field work to progress even with some scattered showers and spotty torrential downpours. It was soggy again this week for alfalfa measurements. Some fields have been harvested in spite of the very limited opportunities for mowing and drying. Kudos to those who were able to harvest!
Most grass species are well in head this week. Alfalfa is chugging along, buds are common now. Some fields are starting to lodge with the growth and excess moisture.
We recognize everyone is a tight spot with the prevented planting date for corn fast approaching and acres of hay crop to be harvested. At this point you might want to leave headed grass fields for cutting later for heifer or dry cow hay and focus on targeting mixed stands which should still have decent quality as well as clear alfalfa the quality of which has not been compromised at this point.
When you see the weather window it is go time as everyone knows. The better the forage quality the cheaper the milk that you will make.
Alfalfa grew on average another 6″ in the past week throughout most of the region. Across the region, even pure stands of alfalfa are about ready to be mowed.
For those interested, the CNY Team’s report can be found at the following link: cny 5282019 1st cutting forage quality summary. The CNY Dairy Livestock & Field Crops Team covers Chenango, Fulton, Herkimer, Madison, Montgomery, Otsego, Saratoga and Schoharie Counties in NY. Any questions about their report can be directed to Kevin Ganoe, khg2@cornell.edu.
As always, feel free to reach out to the team for scouting, monitoring and individual recommendations for first cutting. In addition, we welcome any first cutting forage quality reports you may have taken. Please forward to Betsy Hicks at bjh246@cornell.edu and include date of harvest and percent grass/alfalfa in the sample.
Credit to field measurements goes to Janice Degni, Melanie Palmer, Mary Kate Wheeler, Shona Ort and Betsy Hicks.