Costs and Benefits of Roundup Ready® Alfalfa in the Establishment Year by Mark J. Renz1 Weed suppression can be important during alfalfa establishment as weeds can reduce stand life, alfalfa biomass, and forage quality. To reduce these impacts producers commonly apply herbicides to establishing alfalfa. A range of options exist, but the most common applications include […]
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Aphanomyces Races in Alfalfa by Nick Schneider, Craig Grau, Brian Hudelson, and Amy Gibbs Introduction Aphanomyces root rot (Aphanomyces euteiches) has been identified as a significant alfalfa disease for over 20 years now. Alfalfa is known to be susceptible to numerous root diseases including Bacterial wilt, Fusarium wilt, Phytophthora root rot, Pythium, Verticillium wilt, and Aphanomyces. In Wisconsin, […]
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Disease Profile: Damping Off and Root Rot Caused by Phytophthora and Pythium by Carl Groves and Damon Smith Pythiums are probably the most common cause of seedling blight and seed rot in alfalfa, destroying seeds before germination or killing seedlings after emergence. Phytophthora medicaginis can affect alfalfa plants at all stages of development and is probably the most […]
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Scouting for Leafhoppers Weekly Scouting – 20 sweeps at 5 locations in each alfalfa field. Because leafhopper population densities vary from year to year and from field to field, the only way to accurately determine damage potential is by monitoring fields on a weekly schedule. Start scouting 5-7 days after first cut. Use a standard […]
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Removal of Roundup Ready Alfalfa: What can we learn from 2012 by Mark Renz, Extension Weed Scientist, University of Wisconsin – Madison Alfalfa stands are typically terminated by herbicides in Wisconsin. While many options are available, combinations of 2,4-D and glyphosate are most commonly used. With the availability of Roundup Ready alfalfa, concern about removal exists. While previous […]
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Aglime – Key to Increased Yield and Profits by E.E. Schulte and K.A. Kelling Aglime is the cornerstone of a good soil fertility program. Aglime and fertilizer work together to build soil productivity – you increase profits because you get higher yields of better quality crops. Despite the importance of aglime, only 15 percent of Wisconsin cropland that needs aglime actually […]
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Silage Quality After Applying Liquid Dairy Manure to Alfalfa Stubble by Ron Wiederholt, Pat Hoffman, and Richard Muck Introduction Post harvest application (topdressing) of liquid dairy manure to alfalfa has been adopted on Midwest dairy farms as a method to reduce the amount of manure requiring summer storage. Recently, dairy consultants and dairy producers have speculated that […]
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Soil Fertility Influences on Cation Levels in Forages by John Peters and Keith Kelling Introduction A significant number of experiments, many conducted in Wisconsin, show the benefits of adding lime to fields where alfalfa is grown (Peters and Kelling, 1989, 1997). Similarly, a substantial amount of work has documented the benefits of adding potash to soils where alfalfa […]
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Should Calcium Be Applied to Wisconsin Soils? by John Peters and Keith Kelling Introduction There is considerable debate about the value of applying calcium to Wisconsin soils used for forage production. Calcium is the dominant exchangeable cation in Wisconsin soils because it is held more tightly by the soil particles than most other cations including magnesium and potassium. […]
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Applying Manure to Alfalfa by Mike Rankin Introduction Manure has traditionally been targeted for corn acres during the course of a crop rotation. The reason has simply been that corn uses and needs all of the nutrients supplied by manure (especially nitrogen). A recent trend has been toward using more manure on fields in the alfalfa […]
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