The date of a producer’s last harvest of alfalfa affects its winter survival and next spring's vigor, says Bruce Anderson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension forage specialist.
“Alfalfa needs about six weeks of uninterrupted growth in the fall to become fully winterized,” he notes.
Winterizing generally begins about three weeks before the average date of the first frost.
“Your last harvest can occur anytime before winterizing begins or after the winterizing period is over with little worry about affecting stand life,” he says. “But harvesting during winterizing can be risky.”
The risk level depends on how much total stress an alfalfa stand has experienced during the season. The most important stress factor is the number of cuts a farmer has taken from a field.
“Fields cut four or five times are more susceptible to winter injury than fields cut three times or less,” Anderson explains.
Young stands of winterhardy, disease-resistant varieties are less stressed and can be harvested during winterizing with less risk than older stands of varieties that may be only moderately winterhardy.
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