Make the Most Out of Alfalfa’s First Cutting

First cutting is the most important and critical cutting of the alfalfa growing season. A late start of this growing season will determine multiple things during this year’s production. It is important to know that the success of the entire production will be based on determining a proper date to cut for the highest yield and quality.

As a rule of thumb, forage quality varies with the environment and cutting management. If you are forced to delay the first cutting due to environmental conditions (rain or even drought), keep in mind that this could have negative consequences with a slower regrowth and perhaps a reduction in future yield production.

First cutting tends to have low quality if it is cut late during the growing season. Generally, during the pre-bloom or bud stage the stems are highly digestible with high-quality forage. Second and third cuttings are still very important for production. However if there is a need to wait to harvest beyond the bud stage then the more the quality would suffer because of lower proportion of the leaf and stem ratio.

Below are some guidelines for plant height and harvest maturity in alfalfa. Producers should take these into consideration for future management and cutting strategies.

Table 1. Plant height and harvest maturity in alfalfa.

Source: Professor Marisol Berti; North Dakota State University for Midwest Forage Association (Forage Focus; May 2018).

Other Rules of Thumb

• Don’t cut alfalfa too early, before floral bud development; give it time to accumulate enough reserves to grow an excellent crop for a second harvest. Harvesting too early and too often will reduce plant strength.

• Typically, mid-bud to late-bud stage is when dairy producers will harvest top-quality alfalfa. However, beef cattle producers can stretch into early flower. There may be a slight loss in quality, but yield will be higher.

• When harvesting, lay the crop in a windrow to wilt to the desired moisture content. The length of time wilting requires depends on the temperature, humidity, solar radiation, wetness of the ground and wind speed.

• To gauge the moisture level of alfalfa laid in a windrow, it is recommended to go out into the field with your forage harvester, chopping a representative sample and collecting an amount in your hand. Squeeze your hand into a fist. If moisture oozes out of your hand, the forage is too wet to make into silage. If you squeeze and open and the ball has a slow release, then it’s close to an ideal moisture content. If you open your hand and that ball immediately falls apart, then the moisture content is too dry.