This is the team’s third week of monitoring heights for first cutting quality in 2023. The full report for our six-county region (Broome, Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Tioga, Tompkins Counties) can be found in the following link: Alfalfa Height Reporting Sheet 5.16.23.
This week’s updates:
Grass harvest has started in earnest around much of our six-county region. Look for a post in the coming days about scissor cut samples we’ve taken around the region on grass and triticale harvest.
Broome: This week’s average was just shy of 25″, a gain of over 7″ from last week. Prediction for pure alfalfa crop harvest is in the coming week.
Cayuga: Gaining almost 7″ here, average for the county was almost 23″. Prediction for pure alfalfa crop is predicted to be between the 20th and 27th. Best to check local conditions
Chemung: Averaging 25″, fields gained over 6.5″ over last week. Pure alfalfa stands will be ready for harvest in the coming week.
Cortland: Bringing up the end of the pack once again, Cortland fields are now averaging 18″ in height, a gain of over 4.5″ from last week. Pure grass stands are being harvested here, with mixed crops closely following. More time appears to be needed for alfalfa to reach peak quality when compared to the rest of the region.
Tioga: Also gaining 4.5″ over last week, Tioga’s heights averaged 22″. Pure alfalfa fields will be predicted to be ready to harvest between the 22nd and 27th here.
Tompkins: Gaining almost 5″ over last week, Tompkins county fields averaged just under 22″. Mixed alfalfa/grass fields should be harvested, and pure alfalfa fields are predicted to be ready from the 22nd to 27th here.
A Reminder on our Methods
For prediction of NDF content, the height of alfalfa as an indicator is as follows:
- 100% grass stands – cut when nearby alfalfa is 14 inches tall (achieves 50% NDF)
- 50/50 grass/alfalfa stands – cut when nearby alfalfa is 22 inches tall (achieves 44% NDF)
- 100% alfalfa stands – cut when alfalfa is 28 inches tall (achieve 40% NDF)
Predicted days to cut are based on daily NDF increases for grasses of 1.0% point, 50/50 mixed alfalfa/grass stands of 0.8% points, and alfalfa of 0.5% points and are adjusted for the coming week’s weather. Typically NDF increases about 0.8 to 1.2 per day for grasses, with cooler weather being the lower end of the range and warmer weather being the higher end. For alfalfa, NDF increases about 0.4 to 0.7 per day, also dependent upon warm/cool weather.
Next Report
Look for our next report of monitoring heights to come out on Wednesday, May 24th. In the meanwhile, if you can’t get out to check your fields, call one of us on the team. We’ll be glad to help out.
