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By Stephen K. Barnhart, Department of Agronomy

 

Producers must answer a couple of basic questions when deciding the time of the first spring cutting of alfalfa and mixed alfalfa and grass fields. What's your hay harvesting schedule? What are your objectives for the harvested hay crop or forage stand?  Harvest schedule decisions tend to be guided by what's most important. Producer objectives may include harvested yield, nutritive quality of the forage, or vigor and persistence of the perennial stand.