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Alfalfa persistence helps boost profitAlfalfa persistence helps boost profit

Here’s how to maximize lifetime alfalfa stand yields.

Fran O'Leary, Senior Editor

January 30, 2025

2 Min Read
forage harvester and tractor in a hayfield
INCREASE PERSISTENCE: According to Extension alfalfa specialist Scott Newell, factors such as variety choice, soil type, drainage, pH, nutrient status, winter stubble, snow cover and winter conditions all play a role in alfalfa persistence. Ryan O’Leary

Farmers throughout the Midwest experienced a very wet spring last year as continuous rains made making first- and second-crop alfalfa a challenge.

“Forage was rocket fuel before the rain, and beef quality when it finally stopped,” said Scott Newell, a University of Wisconsin Extension alfalfa outreach specialist who spoke at a forage seminar during World Dairy Expo in Madison. “Farmers got a lot of yield from their alfalfa last spring, but it was not quality feed.”

Although farmers cannot control the weather, Newell gave tips on how alfalfa stands can be controlled through persistence management. Maintaining persistence with alfalfa means keeping the stand as productive as possible for as long as the stand is in the ground, he explained.

The alfalfa management triangle focuses on three main parts:

  • quality

  • yield

  • persistence

Managing for yield also means the farmer is managing for persistence. But if managing for quality, expect a bit of yield loss.

“Management is always a trade-off, so we do still need high-quality forage to feed into the ration,” Newell said. “But we need to have some times of the year where we balance that management for quality with some management for persistence as well. Higher nutrient levels can also be achieved from alfalfa if the stand is strong.”

Related:Avoid herbicide injury in new alfalfa stands

How can you achieve persistence?

Factors such as variety choice, soil type, drainage, pH, nutrient status, winter stubble, snow cover and winter conditions all play a role in alfalfa persistence, Newell noted.

Good cutting management allows for winter acclimation of the plant, restoration of root reserves in the crown and taproot, and accumulation of different compounds for winter projection, plus it can affect spring vigor the following year and can provide regrowth to block wind and catch snow.

“Be sure to avoid cutting five to six weeks prior to killing frost,” he cautioned.

Remember that alfalfa does not have the same growth rate throughout the entire season. First and second cuttings produce the most yield but also vary in quality.

“As we get to third and fourth cuttings, we’re not necessarily losing the quality like we would from first and second cutting by leaving the cutting interval longer,” Newell said. “Consider this while making third and fourth cuttings. If on a 28-day schedule, you might be forfeiting yield at an appropriate quality if you would have left it in the field a little longer.”

With a strong alfalfa stand, greater nutrition can be achieved. Gain persistence in your stand to maintain profitability for the following year.

Related:Making hay the Western way

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Alfalfa

About the Author

Fran O'Leary

Senior Editor, Wisconsin Agriculturist

Fran O’Leary lives in Brandon, Wis., and has been editor of Wisconsin Agriculturist since 2003. Even though O’Leary was born and raised on a farm in Illinois, she has spent most of her life in Wisconsin. She moved to the state when she was 18 years old and later graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

Before becoming editor of Wisconsin Agriculturist, O’Leary worked at Johnson Hill Press in Fort Atkinson as a writer and editor of farm business publications and at the Janesville Gazette in Janesville as farm editor and a feature writer. Later, she signed on as a public relations associate at Bader Rutter in Brookfield, and served as managing editor and farm editor at The Reporter, a daily newspaper in Fond du Lac.

She has been a member of American Agricultural Editors’ Association (now Agricultural Communicators Network) since 2003.

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