The UNL Haskell Ag Lab will be hosting a Tree Pruning Workshop on Thursday, March 23rd from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. The UNL Haskell Ag Lab is located at 57905 866 Road, Concord, NE. Everyone is welcome to attend this in-person workshop. The flyer below has all of the details. Contact Anna Keenan at akeenan3@unl.edu for more information.
SELECTING ALFALFA VARIETIES
Whether you planed it originally or held off due to dry conditions in the fall, the time for spring planting alfalfa is just around the corner. Selecting the right seed is crucial, and two traits to consider are fall dormancy and winter survival. These traits are often treated the same, but are different. Let’s take a closer look.
As temperatures drop and days shorten, alfalfa plants change their physiology to survive freezing temperatures and make it through winter. Winter survival or winter hardiness is the ability for an alfalfa plant to make it through winter without injury, once the plant goes dormant. Increased hardiness can lead to reduced yield potential, so we want to find a balance between a hardy stand and production potential. Winter survival is measured on a 1 to 6 scale with 1 being extremely hardy and 6 not hardy.
On the other hand, fall dormancy is a measure of an alfalfa plant’s ability to regrow in the fall. Dormancy is scored on a scale ranging from 1 to 11 with 1 being most dormant and 11 the least. Higher dormancy means a harvested plant will focus its resources in the fall more on building reserves to survive the winter and less on new growth. There are free alfalfa ratings available online that may be helpful for comparing survival and dormancy between varieties.
This tendency toward slower regrowth manifests throughout the year, with less dormant varieties typically recovering faster in the spring and producing overall higher yields. Another role dormancy plays is keeping plants from starting growth during the random warm-ups we can have in the fall and winter months. Plants that break bud during these periods are subject to winterkill and will have to start growth from new buds later on.
Finally, fall dormancy can impact the harvest timetable. Again, lower dormancy ratings means a plant regrows slower. This translates into more time to remove forage from the field before “windrow disease” and field traffic become a concern.
In the past, winter survival and fall dormancy traits were often linked. With new varieties, this isn’t always the case, so each trait needs to be evaluated on its own.
We want to pick a winter survival ranking that will get us through winter without compromising yield. Where you are in the state plays a big role in what to pick, but in general, 3 is as low as we want to go to prevent a unneeded drop in yield. For fall dormancy, a rating of 5 or lower provides a good balance of yield and survival. Winter temperatures affect both survival and dormancy ratings, but maintained snow cover is also important. Snow can help insulate the ground, and parts of the state that regularly have open winters may need as high or higher survival rating than colder locations with winter-long snow cover. If you have regular issues with stand winterkill, you may consider going with a lower rated variety. Finally, don’t forget that for dormancy ratings, spring recovery is important, but dormancy also impacts harvest schedule, yield potential, and prevents early bud break during winter warm snaps.
-Ben Beckman is a beef systems Extension Educator serving the counties of Antelope, Cedar, Knox, Madison and Pierce. He is based out of the Cedar County Extension office in Hartington. You can reach him by phone: (402) 254-6821 or email: ben.beckman@unl.edu
How much is this manure worth?
“How much is this manure worth?” This is a common question from both livestock farmers who are supplying manure and crop farmers who are utilizing it.
To answer this question, it is important to understand the difference between gross value and net value. The gross value of manure reflects the equivalent commercial fertilizer value of the nutrients contained in the manure. The net value considers the impacts of application method, transportation, and cropping system nutrient needs as well as intrinsic values that are much more difficult to put a number on. Therefore, this article will focus on determining the gross value of nutrients in manure. Here is the full article: https://water.unl.edu/article/animal-manure-management/calculating-value-nutrients-manure
Private Pesticide Trainings at Haskell Ag Lab
Thursday, April 6th - 6 p.m.
Cost: $50 at the door. Plan to arrive 15 minutes prior to start of training to sign in. Questions: Call the Dixon County Extension Office at 402-584-2234.
Please plan to join us at the Haskell Ag Lab for Coffee and Conversations on Tuesday, April 11 at 9 AM. Please invite friends and neighbors to attend with you. If you have ideas for other presentations at Coffee & Conversations, please share with us.
Arbor Day/Earth Day Spring Fling The UNL Haskell Ag Lab will be holding their Arbor Day/Earth Day event on Saturday, April 29th from 1 to 4 p.m. The event will feature educational sessions for all, activities for kids, recycling information, tree and shrub planting demonstrations, and free trees for attendees. The event is free and open to the public. A flyer will be in the April issue of the newsletter. Please mark your calendars for this spring event at the UNL Haskell Ag Lab.
Field Days Planned
The UNL Haskell Ag Lab is happy to announce we will be hosting two field days in August.
The Soybean Management Field Day will be held on Wednesday, August 9 from 9 AM to 2:30 PM.
The Science & Ag Family Field Day will be held on Thursday, August 10th from 9 AM. to 3 PM.
Please mark your calendars and make plans to attend these events. More details will be coming in future newsletters.
Suggestions/Requests
Do you have a suggestion or a request for a program at the Haskell Ag Lab? We want to hear from you.
Click this link and complete this form and submit. We will look at all suggestions and requests. The form is available at: https://go.unl.edu/halsuggest
You can also reach us by phone at 402-584-2261 with your suggestions/requests for programs.
“How much is this manure worth?” This is a common question from both livestock farmers who are supplying manure and crop farmers who are utilizing it.
