Counting Down to Hay Harvest

Mixed grass legume stands can provide challenges at harvest timing.

Hard to believe as we're trying to get the crop in the ground, but 1st cut is coming! Deciding when to go can be harder than we think, especially with different spring time temperatures. Here's what we need to think about as we get ready for the first forage crop of the year:

• Weather: different growing patterns can influence our harvest timing since our grasses and our legume grow best in different conditions.

• Species mix: looking at the breakdown of our grasses and legumes, not by what we planted them at but rather what they're at per kg of feed will help us recognize what species we need to base our harvest timing on.

• Quality vs quantity: this matters more in 2026 than in other years with the shortages of feed throughout the countryside. If we are looking at rebuilding our inventories, we might delay our harvest timing to accumulate a little more yield per acre.

A great tool to determine our target harvest timing for alfalfa is the Predictive Equation for Alfalfa Quality as developed by the University of Wisconsin. By combining plant growth stage and plant height, we can get an estimation of what the quality of the alfalfa is in the form of Relative Feed Value (RFV), allowing us to harvest closer to when it suits our management system and forage goals. It is important to remember that the RFV in the field will be higher than the RFV in the bunk through harvest losses and we need to account for this accordingly.

If making high yielding, high quality feed is a priority for your farm and you think A-List Ag Services can help, don't hesitate to give us a call.