June 29, 2007

It's early July and you've cut alfalfa. It has good soil moisture, but it's not growing very fast and looks a little weak. What's wrong, you ask.

It's a common problem this year and there could be many contributing factors. 

• Is soil pH low so alfalfa roots don't form many nodules to supply nitrogen?
• Do you have enough phosphorus?
• Was your alfalfa stressed this spring by leaf diseases?
• Are you facing problems with potato leafhoppers right now?

All these could be contributing to slow alfalfa growth, as well as another very important factor - how often you harvest your alfalfa.

The hard freeze in early April killed off most of the top growth that already had accumulated, essentially acting like a first harvest. As far as your alfalfa is concerned, you've taken one extra harvest already this year.

To get you alfalfa back on track, give it a couple extra weeks of growth between harvests this summer. The extra recovery time will rebuild alfalfa growing ability.

Bruce Anderson
Extension Forage Specialist