Managing alfalfa stands in the fall is really about assessing the benefits and risks.

For example, you probably wouldn’t take a harvest in the fall if you knew that a very cold and open (no snow cover) winter was waiting just ahead. The risk of loosing the alfalfa stand would be greater than the benefits of taking the harvest. The benefits and risks of fall harvesting must be assessed in each situation to determine if the benefits are greater than the risks.

Below are some questions to help make the decision about taking a fall harvest or not.

• Do you really need the forage? If you already have plenty of forage to make it until next spring then why risk a fall harvest.
• Is it a younger stand? Older alfalfa stands are more likely to winter kill or suffer winter injury following a fall harvest than younger alfalfa stands.
• Is the soil pH and fertility at optimum? Adequate soil pH and fertility minimizes the risk of fall harvesting.
• Is the field well drained? Alfalfa on well-drained soils is less likely to suffer winter injury than alfalfa on poorly-drained soils.
• Did any previous harvests this year have flowers before cutting? Alfalfa harvest schedules which allow alfalfa to flower once during the season, minimizes the risk of winter injury.

If you answered YES to all these questions then you are at a low risk. However, for each NO answer your risk increases significantly.

SOURCE: Marvin Hall, PSU Forage Specialist