Using PEAQ to Predict
First-cut Alfalfa Quality

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The time has come for forage producers to embrace PEAQ (Predictive Equations for Alfalfa Quality) and use it as a management tool to help predict first-cut alfalfa quality. The system for using PEAQ has now been field-tested over several years and refined for ease of making estimates in the field.

PEAQ was a system developed by Ken Albrecht, UW Madison Forage Researcher, and his co-workers to easily predict the quality of standing alfalfa forage. Two pieces of information are needed. The first is the height of the tallest stem in a one square foot representative field area and the second is the maturity of the most advanced stem in the same area. A more detailed description of the maturity stages and measuring protocol can be found on the enclosed fact sheet entitled "Predicting Pre-Harvest First-cut Alfalfa Quality Using PEAQ". Armed with your height and maturity information, it is then a simple matter of using the table on the enclosed fact sheet to estimate relative feed value (RFV). Make 5 to 10 estimates across a field and average the results to gain the most accuracy.

In addition to widespread university research, the PEAQ system has been tested locally by Fond du Lac County Forage Council members and as a part of the alfalfa scissor-cut program (see related article) for the past two years. Because PEAQ estimates are reported with the lab forage quality results for scissor-cut samples, it is then easy for you to do PEAQ estimates on your fields to see how representative they are of the scissor-cut test fields. The key component of the whole process is to make accurate height and maturity estimates. It doesn't take long to do and it is done at no cost.