# When to cut first year alfalfa?



## kamper24T (Oct 7, 2009)

I planted an alfalfa field 4/3/10 and was wondering what stage of bloom I should cut it at. I have heard anywhere between 1/4 bloom to full bloom and could use some more advice. I clear seeded about 30 pounds of seed per acre and would like to get 7-10 years out of the stand. I am located in north central Iowa.


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## UpNorth (Jun 15, 2009)

For WI the standard recommendation is to cut about 60 days after planting a new seeding for alfalfa silage to dairy cows. Your market may allow or need you to wait longer a more mature alfalfa. The key with seeding year stands is wait long enough so that carbohydrates are stored in the roots to support regrowth. The longer you wait the more energy is stored in the roots, however the quality declines.

Generally 2 cuts in the seeding year before September 1st and 3 cuts per year in the following years strikes a nice balance between alfalfa quality and root energy reserves. I'd wait till at least mid-bud stage in the seeding year for first cut and then 25% bloom on the second cut.

As to your seeding rate that's at least double what we commonly seed here in WI in a pure alfalfa field 12-15 lbs/ac. At that seeding rate too many plants start competing with each other. The link below is a pasture/hay field seeding calculator put out by Dan Undersander at Wisconsin. Click on the first link.

Forage Extension Articles

As to the life of the stand, unless you drill in some orchardgrass or endophyte free fescue at some point you'll probably yields declining pretty rapidly after 3 or 4 years, with the peak yield being 1-2 years after seeding.


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## BCFENCE (Jul 26, 2008)

Thats about the way i cut it also, I also sow 30 pounds to the acre, The first time is going to be the easiest time to get a stand, I dont have the time to go over it agian with a drill if its not thick enough, What ive found is the thicker the stand the thinner the steams will be, the horse people love the small steams.


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## kamper24T (Oct 7, 2009)

So I won't hurt the alfalfa if I do the first cutting before before it blooms? The first cutting would be small square bales as there is no alfalfa silage market around me.


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## bullet81 (Jun 7, 2010)

In California, usually the weather tells us when we are going to cut first cut. A majority of the new seeding alfalfa that goes in is in the fall so in grows throughout the whole winter. When late march or early april rolls around it is so old and had established such a good root zone that it is more than ready to be cut. For the people whe wait for spring planting the main thing we look at before first cut is the regrowth at the bottom of the stem. If you can see sufficient regrowth it is ready to cut, if you go check your field and at the bottom of the stem is just stem it will have a really hard time growing back.

My opinion, every region is different


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## UpNorth (Jun 15, 2009)

You should be fine taking it mid to late bud on the first cutting. Let the second cutting get a little bloom in it and you should be fine. As always good luck between the rain storms.


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