This past week gave us a little respite from field work, and bought us some time with the cooler (cold?) weather. The two images below show the cumulative Growing Degree Days (B32) for locations throughout the SCNY region. GDD are calculated using the Climate Smart Farming Growing Degree Day Calculator found at http://climatesmartfarming.org/tools/csf-growing-degree-day-calculator/
Location Updates
On average, locations climbed about 50 GDD since 4/15, but four locations (Jordan, Horseheads, Skaneateles, Spencer) gained over 90 GDD in the same time period. In the next week, most locations are projected to gain well over 100 GDD, some up to 150 GDD because of the heat in the forecast next week.
Locations highlighted in yellow are now approaching less than two weeks until our target of 800 GDD for cover crop harvest for dairy quality feed. Heat and moisture will affect these dates as we move forward, but paying attention to where your location is today can help you hone in on when you should start checking conditions in your fields.
Currently, it’s looking like the first full week of May will be the earliest we could be harvesting cover crops for dairy quality, with many locations projected to be in the second full week of May. Again, be sure to check your fields for agronomic clues to help you decide what is the right timing for your stand of cover crop.
Looking more closely at Lansing NY
Looking more closely at Lansing again this week, as of 4/22 this location is sitting at 508 GDD. Projected GDD for the next week looks like 640 GDD by 4/29. Both these numbers are well above 15- and 30-year “norms” for the location, as is seen in many other locations, by about 140 GDD.
Rye Cover Crop in McGraw, NY
I’ve been capturing pictures of the cover crop in one of my fields in McGraw, NY weekly. Looking at the last week, we only gained 48 GDD and are at the bottom of the list for cumulative GDD. Even so, I’m watching and recording height for my crop, which was only about 6″ yesterday. Any guesses for GDD or height gain in the next week?
It’s still early, but we’re gaining GDD every day. Watch for next week’s GDD update on Friday, and check out the Climate Smart Farming GDD tool for your location in the meanwhile.
Alfalfa Field ID for First Cutting Updates
Our team of educators has been working to identify alfalfa fields – thank you to all who have reached out and given us fields to measure so far! We’ve been seeing some awful nice fields and some that had a bit of winter kill. Make sure you evaluate your stands before harvest to identify at which stage a mixed stand should be harvested!
If you have fields to add, please let me know – 607.391.2673 or bjh246@cornell.edu. First alfalfa height report will come out Wednesday May 5th.