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Second cut Alfalfa

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Big Muddy rancher

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I don't have much experience with second cut as I usually don't have enough rain for even a good first cut :? But this year I have some pretty good regrowth on the early cut fields. We are probably going to get a frost in the next few days. I don't want to hurt the Alfalfa so do i wait until frost has killed it then cut?

I was planning on raking into big windows with my dump rake and leave it for swath grazing.
 
I can see you standing out in the field saying,.... I've never seen this before. :lol:

Cut it and leave it til it dries or freezes, then bale it up. You don't want to kill out next year's bumper crop do you? :wink:
 
wait till it frosts, then cut the hay....be sure it is a good hard frost, then the crown is dormant, and you will be fine.
 
You are close enough to the frost now to wait. Forget the baler and swath graze it so I have company with everyone thinking we are nuts. Ever tried to kill Alfalfa? The stuff is more resilient that folks give it credit. Our windrows from the year before are usually good the next year and better the year after.
 
just a silly question but why cant you just let the cows graze it standing . is there a benifit to cuttng it and raking it into bigger windrows. just curious thought i would ask.
 
I am in the same situation as you are, however I have heard that if you cut the alfalfa this late you risk winter kill. Is this so? And do you have to allow for some re-growth? I have also heard that there is no feed value in frozen alfalfa, what are your thoughts.
 
peacecountry said:
just a silly question but why cant you just let the cows graze it standing . is there a benifit to cuttng it and raking it into bigger windrows. just curious thought i would ask.
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They trample down so much- and the leaves fall off leaving just stalks that they won't eat- especially with alfalfa....

I've got about 60 acres down- that I hope will eventually dry out if it quits raining :roll: - but the other 80 acres probably won't be cut til after a good freeze now (which could come this weekend according to the weather guessers)...

Combines moved back in this morning to finish combining- but the temp would never move above 60 nor would the humidity go below 60- nor the grain moisture go below 18 and then this afternoon we got another .1 of rain :shock: :(
 
peacecountry said:
just a silly question but why cant you just let the cows graze it standing . is there a benifit to cuttng it and raking it into bigger windrows. just curious thought i would ask.
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I probably won't have the cows near it until January and by then it would just be a few sticks blowing in the wind. :D

It would make some great fall pasture to bloom up the calves but not likely to work out that way. :?
 
hayguy said:
will you have to limit feed or let them have unlimited access to the swaths?
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I let them have full access, some like to provide grass hay or straw. My Alfalfa swath grazing has brome or quack headlands and I can graze in conjunction with stubble or native grass.
 
If there is a way to give limited access to that high quality feed thru the winter it could be used as a protein supplement to poorer quality feed. I heard a guy speak some years back about letting cows have access to wheat pasture every other day for part of they day while they spent most of the time on cornstalks.
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
I don't have much experience with second cut as I usually don't have enough rain for even a good first cut :? But this year I have some pretty good regrowth on the early cut fields. We are probably going to get a frost in the next few days. I don't want to hurt the Alfalfa so do i wait until frost has killed it then cut?

I was planning on raking into big windows with my dump rake and leave it for swath grazing.
Click to expand...



If it is blooming about 50% you can cut it without much chance of winterkill otherwise let it get a hard frost(26 degrees for five hours will shut it down). Then bale it and sale to the nearest dairy and replace it with twice as much so called feeder hay! :wink:
 
Angus 62 said:
If there is a way to give limited access to that high quality feed thru the winter it could be used as a protein supplement to poorer quality feed. I heard a guy speak some years back about letting cows have access to wheat pasture every other day for part of they day while they spent most of the time on cornstalks.
Click to expand...

The way a lot of folks do that is by baling it and feeding it with poor quality hay. :D :wink:
 
The big difference is thousands of dollars worth of investment and operating costs in balers, trucks to haul it with, and starting feeding equipment regularly in below zero weather. :(
 
Plentywood, Montana owned by a pretty good hunter if I remember right. I suppose the nearest to BMR might be on a Hutterite colony somewhere or up by Regina.
 

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