Handling Winterkill Alfalfa Forages

Winter finally showed up and we are getting ready for subzero temperatures this week. This cold weather makes us wonder how well alfalfa hay stands are going to handle it. Cold temperatures are very detrimental to alfalfa stands, especially new ones. The upcoming forecast won’t do your alfalfa any favors, and fields without adequate snow cover need to watch for winterkill.

Winterkill can be determined by evaluating stands when green-up starts. Established alfalfa stands with 4-5 plants per square foot are considered adequate for hay production. One year-old stands need to be closer to 10 plants per square foot.

If you find there are not enough plants when evaluating your stand, we have options you can take. With stands that are one year-old or less you can overseed additional alfalfa. Older stands cannot be overseeded with alfalfa due to autotoxicity – the older plants kill off new seedlings. In these cases, we can overseed with a mixture of other forages to fill in the gaps.

If you seed too early and a cold snap kills off your forage, we can overseed in the fall. One method we have success with is adding winter wheat and additional alfalfa in the fall to spring-established forages. The winter wheat acts as a nurse crop, like oats, but provides growth in both the fall and the spring. The wheat then dies out by the second cutting of the following year’s alfalfa and provides good cover to let the newer alfalfa become established.

SFG has a full line of hay and small seed items that can help improve current or establish new forages. Give us a call with any concerns regarding winterkill, or any forage related questions!