# Winter Kill.



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

This article is from Successful Farming back about 3 weeks ago....and many if not most of us have had some extremely cold temperatures since. I expect some winter kill here....not the smothering kind from iced over snow etc., but the freeze out kind. We have had several days in the past three weeks where the lows were in single digits. I have already seen winterkill in my shrubbery around the house. Many of our plants are not adapted for this kind of cold....kind of like what it would be like up in Minnesota if it were high double to triple digit temperatures with no rain for 3-4 weeks...it would take its toll....but here, we would survive ok.

Regards, Mike

https://www.agriculture.com/crops/wheat/winterkill-likely-widespread-as-low-temperatures-hit-wheat-belt-midwest


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

Trespassing snowmobiles are my biggest problem. We have little snow cover so every dusting these asshats start riding all over everything. Temperature swings are the next problem. 60 one morning -10 that evening. Happens a few times a year


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I have had winterkill in some of the new seeding of grasses I planted this past fall. Most everything I planted this past fall was replanted later than I wanted since my first attempt washed away. What was replanted on October 20th looks like it's mostly okay. The fields that were too wet to replant until two weeks later in early November are a complete loss....the seedlings were just too small to handle the cold and froze out. I knew better than to be planting that late as I have had mixed results in the past....was hoping for a mild winter and it might have been okay. Maybe the third time planting will be the charm?☹

Established grasses and alfalfa look no worse for wear. This unusually long extended cold spell was hard on certain ornamental bushes and plants though......looks like some things were froze back to the ground.

Hayden


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

My alfalfa has gone dormant for the first time ever in many places in the field. In sheltered areas it still has a little green crown above the ground.

Regards, Mike


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Vol said:


> My alfalfa has gone dormant for the first time ever in many places in the field. In sheltered areas it still has a little green crown above the ground.
> 
> Regards, Mike


 From a distance my alfalfa looks completely brown but upon closer inspection there are still a few green leaves and shoots right at ground level. For the past four years I have grown alfalfa I have never had it go what I would call fully dormant with no green above the ground. This is the closest it has ever been to being fully dormant though.

Something that really surprised me though was yesterday I stopped by a field that I planted into Timothy back on November 18th. It took over a month to germinate and was just sprouting right before the January freeze. Figured the seedlings would be blackened and dead just like the seedling orchard and brome but surprisingly it it only looked a little frost bitten on the tips and looks like I may actually have a stand.

Hayden


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