The Wisconsin Forage Council exists
for the purpose of learning better management skills for forage production and
use. For this reason the Wisconsin
Forage Council recommends coordinated demonstrations to local councils. By conducting demonstrations in similar
manner across the state, results can be compared and new information provided
to farmer members.
In addition to the four coordinated
demonstrations outlined below, the Forage Council is recommending that all
locals participate in the scissors clip program. Measurements can be taken either by clipping or with a forage
quality stick (protocols at http://www.uwex.edu/ces/forage/wfc/scissor.htm)
and entered into the scissors clip website (http://cf.uwex.edu/ces/ag/scissorsclip/springclip.cfm)
for all to use. This is a strong tool
many have used to harvest high quality forage in the spring.
Purpose:
to determine if manure application to alfalfa affects alfalfa fermentation
after ensiling and resulting forage quality.
(1) Apply manure to a portion of an alfalfa field immediately after
cutting. Record amount and type of
manure applied.
(2) Harvest each portion of the alfalfa field into a silo tube marking
the outside to indicate where each treatment occurs.
(3) Four weeks or more after ensiling, take a sample of the forage from
each portion of the silo tube and send to Dairyland Laboratories in Acradia,
WI. Request a fermentation analysis (pH,
acetic acid, butyric acid, isobutyric acid, propionic acid and lactic acid) for
$12 in addition to the standard forage analysis.
Purpose: to determine if wheel traffic from harvesting
alfalfa affects soil compaction and alfalfa regrowth.
(1) Mow/Harvest with two wheel traffic densities – harvest a portion of
the field by cutting 8 to 9 foot swath and baling or chopping each windrow
individually. Harvest another portion of the field by taking full cutter width
and merging windrows before harvesting.
The first should have harvesting wheel traffic very 8 to 9 feet and the
latter should have harvesting wheel traffic every 24 ft (if 12 foot mower-conditioner).
(2) Estimate yield of succeeding cutting by weighing portion harvested
from 1 acre or more of each treatment or by counting small bales. One acre can be calculated as the length of
windrow times the cutter bar width to equal one acre. Note: harvesting of both treatments must occur on same day so
that wheel traffic of harvesting is not confounded with alfalfa regrowth.
Demonstration 3: AM/PM Cutting Alfalfa
Purpose: to determine if PM cut alfalfa has higher
sugars in harvested material. This has
been shown to increase palatability and intake of western hays.
(1) Cut portions of same alfalfa
field in morning (8 to 10 am) and in mid afternoon (3 to 5 pm. Condition and handle as normal. Cuttings may both occur on same day or be PM
of one day and AM of next.
(2) Take a sample of freshly
cut alfalfa within 15 minutes of cutting and freeze.
(3) Bale or chop alfalfa when
at appropriate moisture for storage.
(4) Record times of mowing
and harvesting. Also record drying
conditions: Sunshine, temperature, humidity, wind speed.
(5) Sample stored alfalfa
approximately 3 weeks after harvesting.
This can be done easily from bales or silage put into a tube that was
marked on the outside with spray paint to indicated location of AM and PM cut
alfalfa. Send samples to John Peters at
UW Marshfield Soil and Forage Analysis Laboratory and request sugar and starch
analysis in addition to standard forage analysis.
Demonstration 4: Alfalfa Sulfur Response Trial
Purpose: to determine sulfur
fertilizer needs of alfalfa
(1) Choose a site with strong
alfalfa stand— If doing more than one site in your area, it is useful to
have at least one of them that has not received manure in the last 3
years. Field should have been seeded
last year or no more than 2 years ago and should not have received any S
fertilizer. We would hope to keep the
plots for at least 2 to 3 years.
(2) Layout plots — When
small plot clipping or a plot harvester is used, plots may be as small as 5 ft
x 10 to 15 ft; however, if field equipment or windrow measurements are used,
then plots may be one to two spreader widths wide in strips across the whole
field. Treatments should be replicated
three to five times.
(3) Take pre-trial soil
samples — Three cores should be taken by 6-inch increments to 3 feet and composited. These samples should be sent to
Kelling/Speth for analysis.
(4) Apply sulfur treatments
— These treatments can be applied after first cutting or after the other
harvests if that timing works better.
Applications in subsequent years should be made at the same time. We suggest that gypsum (CaSO4) be
used as the S source and that a uniform rate of K2O be applied
across the whole field. The rate to be
applied is 25 lb/acre once per year as sulfate sulfur. A second rate of 50 or 100 lb S/acre/year
can also be included as a third treatment.
(5) Harvest each cutting by
some method that allows for the determination of quantity of dry matter
produced per acre— Possible approaches include:
Whole plot harvest
Small plot harvester
Windrow
section weight
Weigh wagon
Whatever method is chosen,
the data that needs to be collected include:
Wet weight of harvested material
Area from which the wet weight material was
collected
Collect a subsample so that the moisture
content at the time of wet weight measurement can be determined, and the tissue
nutrient concentrations can be measured
(6) Send about 1000 g of
harvested tissue from each plot to Kelling/Speth for processing and analysis
— Sample should be placed in sealed plastic bag to avoid moisture loss. Sample can be delivered, mailed, or sent by
a carrier such as UPS.
(7) Fill out site information
sheet — Some of the information only needs to be provided once. Other parts (those relating to harvest) must
be done at each harvest, for each replication.
(8) Collect 0- to 6-inch depth
soil samples (eight to ten cores per plot) following the late-August
cutting each year.