High Plains Journal, KS
05-18-07
Managing alfalfa after the freeze
"The alfalfa is way behind. We will take our first cutting once the alfalfa shows
buds or blooms. Hopefully it will recover nicely and we will still be able to have
three more cuttings after that," said Ted Ewing.
By Jennifer Bremer
A widespread freeze on alfalfa across the Midwest has forced producers to make
management decisions to deal with the loss of the first crop.
Wayne County, Iowa producer Ted Ewing said that the first crop will be
drastically reduced from normal, but he has a positive outlook for his hay crop for
the rest of the year and in the future.
"With the increase in ethanol and biodiesel more and more producers are putting
land to corn and soybeans," he said. "The extra land that we have will be used
for producing more hay."
Ewing and his son, Jeff have about 600 acres of ground used for producing
organic hay. Most of the hay is an alfalfa and grass mix because that is what
their customers demand.
"We do have quite a bit of damage from the Easter-time freeze. The alfalfa is way
behind. We will take our first cutting once the alfalfa shows buds or blooms," said
Ewing. "Hopefully it will recover nicely and we will still be able to have three more
cuttings after that."
Freeze damage needs to be assessed
Iowa State University agronomist Steve Barnhart said that assessing the
freeze damage will help producers make management decisions.
"If cold injury to established stands only affected some of the early top growth,
producers need to determine if the growing point of the stems has been
damaged. If there was only leaf damage and the stem tip is recovering normally,
follow your normal harvest plans," he explained.
However, he said that if the stem tips are permanently damaged, more branches
will likely form from the base of the plant. Barnhart said that if the frosted stems
were less than 10 inches tall at the time of frost it will take them longer to
recover. He recommended that those fields be harvested a week or so later than
normal.
"It is strongly recommended to dig up random plants to evaluate the condition of
the plant crowns and taproots," he said. "Plant crowns should be firm and appear
to be living tissue. Healthy taproots are creamy-white in color with a firm texture."
Ewing said that he has seen widespread damage in most all his fields in southern
Iowa near Russell, but the plants are looking better every day.
Making management considerations
Barnhart said that producers need to make management considerations for
damaged or questionable stands. He suggested to take stem counts in several
places in each field to see if there is viable new shoot growth. If there are fewer
than 40 stems per square foot, a low, non-economical yield will result. If stem
counts are 40 to 55 per square foot, the stand will likely produce less than full
yields. An average of more than 55 stems per square foot indicates that the
stand is at full production potential.
"If a decision is made to terminate the stand either now or after one cutting, plan
to follow with a grass-type crop that can benefit from the free fixed nitrogen left
behind by the alfalfa," he said.
Some suggestions would be to plant corn for silage, which would generate the
highest tonnage. Planting oats, barley or spring triticale for forage may be a
short-term supplemental forage alternative. Traditional summer annual forage
crops, such as sudangrass or one of the millets, are a season-long option that
won't need planted until mid-May.
Ewing said that they did do some seeding this spring, but their seeding has
always been based on need, which gives them the flexibility to spread seed
where the stand is a little questionable.
He said they have also considered rotating crops more on their farm in order to
put more nutrients back in the ground. Since they are producing all organic hay,
the only thing that is added to the ground is hog manure.
In the future they hope to implement the following rotation having ground in
soybeans for one year, corn the second year and follow that with four to five
years of hay.
"The organic practices already make the soil a higher quality, but by adding a
crop rotation, more nutrients will be added to the land, putting more life back into
the soil," said Ewing.
Hog manure is supplied by three hog buildings located on Ewings' land. The
buildings are leased to a former hired man and they use the hog manure as
fertilizer on their hay ground.
"The arrangement has worked out really well for us," Ewing added.
They recently decided to purchase equipment to spread the manure themselves
instead of having it custom applied. This will allow for a little more flexibility and
will allow them to apply more manure this spring to boost regrowth.
Extra acres for renewable fuels causes concern
Ewing said he is concerned about a hay shortage this fall since so many farmers
are putting their extra acres into corn or soybeans for the renewable fuels
industry. "We will continue to raise hay because there will always be a need for
hay in the livestock industry," he said.
In fact, the additional acres that they will acquire this year from expired CRP
contracts will also go toward producing more hay.
"The nice thing about CRP acres is that they are already organic and we don't
have to let them go through the three year transition to become certified," he
added.
To become organic the Ewings had to fill out applications and a plentiful amount
of paperwork. Ewing credits his wife, Judy, for filling it out and keeping up with
the bookwork.
They must continually keep track of every little detail such as what seeding is
done; how much manure is spread on each field; when it is cut, raked and baled;
how it is stored; when it is sold; and how it is transported.
"It's a lot of busy work, but there are benefits in the end," Judy Ewing added.
Ewing likes to be able to get a 20 percent premium on the organic hay he sells,
but when he does the billing he looks at the hay once it is loaded to determine
just how good it looks on the truck. He wants his customers to be happy.
And happy they must be, because he has repeat customers each year. Last year
hay was sold to producers in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Arkansas,
Missouri and Iowa. Most of their customers are organic dairy producers, but they
will get others also.
In a normal growing season, they will produce four to five tons per acre, but they
are at the mercy of Mother Nature just like any other farmer.
If hay gets rained on or damaged, they use it for their own use and feed it to their
200 head cow herd or the 400 to 500 head of cattle that they background each
year. Some hay is also made into haylage and bagged for future feed use.
If an insect problem occurs they have to just deal with the problem since organic
producers can't spread pesticides. Ewing said that if insects are a problem they
will cut the hay as soon as possible, which generally solves the problem.
Bordering fields can also cause challenges if drifting of fertilizer, herbicides or
pesticides occurs. In that case they keep the hay for their own use as well.
Weed problems are also a challenge. Ewing said that they may see more weeds
in the first cutting since the alfalfa is so far behind and won't be using up all the
nutrients and moisture.
He hopes that after the first cutting is baled some of the potential problems will
be solved and their crop will grow back, recovering from the damage.
In the long run, Ewing will continue to deal with the problems handed to him by
Mother Nature and make management decisions to increase the efficiency and
yield of his hay crop.
Jennifer Bremer can be reached by phone at 641-938-2342 or by e-mail at
jbremermaj@hotmail.com.