Dodge County Forage Council

Dodge County Relative Feed Quality Estimates
Predictive Equations for Alfalfa Quality (PEAQ) method

NOTES:

On May 26 fields were nearly all in the bud stage of development with PEAQ measurements from 150 to 190 on some low depressions near Rubicon. All fields have been established alfalfa stands. We’ll collect again on early Thursday morning May 28. By then, I suspect hay harvest will be underway in many areas depending upon our next rain.

Matt Hanson – UW-Extension Dodge County

May 26, 2009

Location	RFQ	Growth Stage
Waterloo	150	Bud
Fox Lake	155	Bud
Brownsville	160	Bud
Rubicon	170	Early Bud
Watertown	155	Bud

NOTES:

Data from fields through May 21 continue to be in the late vegetative stage with early signs of bud development. We’ll collect again on early Tuesday morning May 26 of next week. By then, I suspect hay harvest will be underway in many areas.

Matt Hanson – UW-Extension Dodge County

May 21, 2009

Location	RFQ	Growth Stage
Waterloo	170	Vegetative
Fox Lake	180	Vegetative
Brownsville	185	Vegetative
Rubicon
Watertown	175	Vegetative

May 18, 2009

Location	RFQ	Growth Stage
Waterloo	195	Vegetative
Fox Lake	195	Vegetative
Brownsville	210	Vegetative
Rubicon	210	Vegetative
Watertown	195	Vegetative

For statewide alfalfa quality information on the web, go to: http://www.uwex.edu/ces/ag/scissorsclip/

Select a county of interest, or select the number of days that you would like information for and press “View Results”.

Remember that first crop alfalfa is the single most important cutting because it is 40% of the total season yield and is generally harvested for the milking dairy herd. Yet this is the cutting when forage quality is changing the fastest and is the one that generally has the lowest average forage quality. The Dodge County Forage Council has been reporting forage quality to encourage more timely harvest over the years.

The question always asked is how to use the results. The results are valuable and with the appropriate use can help plan for harvesting of high quality forage. The following tips should be used to plan harvest schedules:

Set harvesting goals. Forage quality should be matched to animal needs because the use of high quality forage in an animal that will not benefit results in extra production expense with no return. The recommended forage quality goal is 140-150 RFV for milking dairy herds and 120-130 for heifers, beef cattle, and lactating beef cattle.
Make adjustments for field losses. Under the best of conditions 15% of the dry matter will be lost during harvesting. These losses occur from respiration and leaf loss. Thus forage quality can be expected to decline 10% from standing forage to stored forage under the best of conditions. Losses will be greater is conditions are less than optimal. Therefore it is necessary to cut a field at 165 to 170 RFV to end up with harvested forage of 150 RFV.
Make adjustment for total harvesting time. Step two will result in high quality forage from the harvested field but, where several fields are concerned, we have to begin even earlier to average 150 RFV for all fields. There is variability in rate of spring quality change with location and year, but for planning purposes we can use the average first cutting forage quality rate of change of 3 to 4 RFV per day. Thus, if it takes two weeks to harvest first cutting and we want to average 150 RFV, begin harvesting one week before RFV 170 (from 2). Seven days times 3 or 4 RFV change per day equals 21 to 28 points RFV. Harvesting should begin when scissors clip results indicate standing forage quality is 191 to 198 (170 plus 21 or 28).
Make adjustments for local field conditions. The scissors clip results are generally for alfalfa forage quality. This means that grassy fields will reach the stated forage quality earlier than pure alfalfa. Stands on lighter soils will tend to begin growing earlier and mature faster unless conditions are droughty. South slopes will also mature earlier than north slopes. Further, if you have planted some of the newer, high quality varieties, these should reach the desired forage quality two to three days later than standard varieties.

For additional information, contact Matt Hanson at the Dodge County UW-Extension Office at (920) 386-3793.