# Advice on last cut / frost date



## bhamrick (Jan 4, 2013)

Hey guys need advice again. I've read about last cut and frost dates for alfalfa until I'm blue in the face and still have no idea of what to do. Here is the facts in my situation. For starters we wldnt be debating what to do but we are in need of the hay for our personal use. The field of alfalfa was planted last fall about this time so its essentially 1 year old. I took the 5th cutting on sept 4. Our average 1st frost date is Oct 23. Obviously if I didn't need the hay I wldnt cut it. If I have to get by without cutting then so be it as I do not want to harm the stand. But from you guys that know how bad are the risk of taking one last cut this late? We do not have snow cover if anything we get a few ice storms each winter otherwise our winters are typically mild with average lows in the high 20's with an occasional "extreme to us" low dipping into the teens. Weather is supposed to be in the low 80's for the next few days so I could cut, but from lack of knowledge I'm deff worried of what to do.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

In our area of the woods this time of year a fifth cutting isn't worth messing with unless you're going to chop it for silage or wrap it. By time you finally get it dry enough to bale the yield is usually very poor.

Personally with that new a stand, I wouldn't push my luck with a late cutting. Things might be different where your at though.


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## Hugh (Sep 23, 2013)

You can cut it after the first killing frost (4 + hours of 24F or below) and you will do no damage to the plants. If you cut anytime less than 4 weeks prior to the first killing frost the plants will store less carbohydrates in the roots for the spring flush next year. If you think you won't have a killing frost before Oct 28th, I would cut and bale it. Remember, a killing frost for alfalfa is far colder than a killing frost for tomatoes. Also, there are many varieties of alfalfa, all with different cold tolerances, dormancy values, etc. Rolling the dice...


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## Hugh (Sep 23, 2013)

By the way, if you need the hay for your animals, they can graze on that alfalfa after it freezes. Wait about 5-6 days after it freezes so that the hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid) leaves the stems. Same if you bale frozen alfalfa, wait a few days after the freeze before you bale it.


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## bhamrick (Jan 4, 2013)

Thanks for the advice. If I had to guess I would say our average freeze below 24 would not be until sometime mid to late November. Obviously that can all change but I would say that would be typical for our area.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Hugh said:


> By the way, if you need the hay for your animals, they can graze on that alfalfa after it freezes. Wait about 5-6 days after it freezes so that the hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid) leaves the stems. Same if you bale frozen alfalfa, wait a few days after the freeze before you bale it.


Hugh, I have never heard of alfalfa having prussic acid before.....so I did a little research and according to this article it does not. I am not a expert on alfalfa so I will leave it up to everyone to decide for themselves. I do know that haybaler101 periodically makes a freeze/frost cutting of alfalfa and if I remember correctly he does so immediately after the freeze....but I could be wrong.

Regards, Mike

http://www.agronext.iastate.edu/showitem.php?id=22


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## Hugh (Sep 23, 2013)

Mike, I think you are correct on the prussic acid angle.


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## shortrow (Feb 21, 2012)

mlappin said:


> In our area of the woods this time of year a fifth cutting isn't worth messing with unless you're going to chop it for silage or wrap it. By time you finally get it dry enough to bale the yield is usually very poor.
> 
> Personally with that new a stand, I wouldn't push my luck with a late cutting. Things might be different where your at though.


I would leave it alone. Too much invested in it to let the frost heave it.


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## Hugh (Sep 23, 2013)

I would cut it, especially if you have a dry 7-10 weather forecast. To pay it forward, soil test and fertilize the field.


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## ARD Farm (Jul 12, 2012)

Michigan State Agronomy says this....

Alfalfa requires at least 2 consecutive below 24 degree nights to achieve dormancy (which means after that you can cut it without fear of kill off.

They also say.....

You need 6 weeks of above freezing weather (after cutting) for alfalfa to recover without excessive cold weather kill.

I'm in exactly that scenario with about 4 acres and I'm going to wait for the 24 degree consecutive temperture periods and then cut and round bale it.

That applies to Michagan and surrounding states, your scenario may be different.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I have not raised alfalfa long....3 years... but here, so far my alfalfa has not gone dormant every year. Last year was extremely bitter here, but the dormancy period was only about 30-40 days. The previous two years it never went dormant the entire winter period.

Regards, Mike


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

This is my first year raising alfalfa......planted last spring. I have been wondering the same question as when to take the last cut. Here we usually get a frost the very end of October but a hard freeze is not until mid November usually. I thought of a freeze being around 29-30 degrees.....not 24, but I could be wrong. Sometimes it is into December before we get those temps. Generally we only have a couple times a winter when the top few inches of the ground will freeze for a few days. I'm planning on cutting my alfalfa as soon as I get a good 4 day window.....hopefully in a week or so. Now whether I will take a frost cutting later on I'm unsure of that but I see no reason not to take a cutting now.


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## ARD Farm (Jul 12, 2012)

Vol said:


> I have not raised alfalfa long....3 years... but here, so far my alfalfa has not gone dormant every year. Last year was extremely bitter here, but the dormancy period was only about 30-40 days. The previous two years it never went dormant the entire winter period.
> 
> Regards, Mike


You are in a different climatic zone that we are which is why I say your scenario may be different. It gets and stays below freezing here for extended periods every winter, no fail.

Last year we had a hard freeze almost 4 feet deep. I lost some arbovitae, a couple apple trees and a whole bunch of lawn grass.

I keep hearing this year will be a mirror of last year and I don't look forwaed to it. Extreme cold brings out the worst in everything, including my arthritis. The old body gets stiff and creaky in the winter.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Bitter here as well, didn't lose anything but the grapes had a quarter of what we got last year and we literally had no apples or almonds. Pear trees seemed to do alright though.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

Most guys around here dont follow the frost rule. Mid sept is the average killing frost. But can range anywhere from mid aug to early oct. So just take the chances and cut. At least in this area after a hard freeze when cut the alfalfa will dry faster. Sometimes in half the time as before the frost. This year we had killing frost about a month ago. Killed most things but the alfalfa is still growing. But about 10% of the alfalfa died.


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## Hugh (Sep 23, 2013)

Here is a good chart with fall dormancy and cold hardiness ratings on different alfalfa varieties. The questions of when to cut and winter kill, etc probably depend on what kind of alfalfa one has in the ground. http://www.alfalfa.org/pdf/2013%20NAFA%20Variety%20Leaflet.pdf


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## barnrope (Mar 22, 2010)

hog987 said:


> Most guys around here dont follow the frost rule. Mid sept is the average killing frost. But can range anywhere from mid aug to early oct. So just take the chances and cut. At least in this area after a hard freeze when cut the alfalfa will dry faster. Sometimes in half the time as before the frost. This year we had killing frost about a month ago. Killed most things but the alfalfa is still growing. But about 10% of the alfalfa died.


kinda the same way around here. Most guys just finished up with 3rd or 4rth cutting. We had 29 degrees F here a couple weeks ago but the alfalfa kept growing. We cut 300 acres over a few days about 10 to 7 days ago. Got most of it baled but there are still a few acres out there waiting to be baled due to the rains and poor drying days. The washed hay is still drying down and looking nice though. Hopefully we can get a couple more weeks before a killer 24 degree frost.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Hugh said:


> Here is a good chart with fall dormancy and cold hardiness ratings on different alfalfa varieties. The questions of when to cut and winter kill, etc probably depend on what kind of alfalfa one has in the ground.http://www.alfalfa.org/pdf/2013%20NAFA%20Variety%20Leaflet.pdf


Excellent.

Regards, Mike


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