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NE Iowa | Over the years I've dabbled with cutting 4 times a year. But every year I do that in the end I end up coming back to the conclusion that in our area taking only 3 cuttings is best. It yields about the same amount of hay as 4 cuttings and is much better for persistence of the alfalfa. If you bale all your hay as far north as we are the weather has to cooperate very well to get 4 cuttings. Alfalfa does not need to be cut every 28 days to be good enough quality for beef cows. This is just my opinion but in our area the optimum cutting dates for maximizing alfalfa yield and persistence are June 5th, July 15th, and September 1st. If you get enough growth to graze it after freeze that is a bonus. Don't graze it until the alfalfa is a light green color that means that plants upper growth is completely froze. | |
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Late alfalfa question (plus some pics)
