Page 2—Foraging Around, Lancaater Farming, Saturday, February 7, 1998
(Continued from Page 1)
ers Contest sponsored by PFGC back
in the 1980 s. That contest provided al
falfa growers with valuable informa
tion that pushed productivity to a
higher level.
I thought it would be interesting to
look back to 1987, using information
that producers supplied to the Penn
sylvania Agriculture Statistics Service
in Harrisburg, and examine the
changes in alfalfa production.
Many of you are completing the
1997 U.S. Census of Agriculture
forms this winter, and this is an ex
ample of how the information that you
provide can be used. Here’s a trivia
question: which county in Pennsylva
nia has the most acres of alfalfa?
In 1987, fanners in Pennsylvania
harvested 850,000 acres of alfalfa.
The average yield was 3.2 tons per
acre. An additional 1,180,000 acres of
“other” hay was harvested. The aver
age yield from those acres was 2.1
tons.
Several years later in 1990, farmers
harvested 810,000 acres of alfalfa
with an average yield of 3 tons per
acre. The reported “other” hay acreage
was 1,090,000 acres, averaging 2.1
tons per acre. In 1996, the acres of al
falfa dropped to 750,000 acres, with a
state average yield of 3.1 tons.
#1 Yielding Alfalfa
at Penn State University From Barenbrug
BARALFA 54 ALFALFA
Baralfa 54 from BARENBRUG is a synthetic variety selected for exceptional yield and excellent
disease resistance Baralfa 54 is a vigorous high yielding variety with very fast regrowth after cutting.
Baralfa 54 displays above average leafiness and is very persistant.
1996 STAND
Vanet y 5^— 10/11/96 . Seeded Aprl | 20, 1995
Baralfa 54 7.88 84.0 * Yields (tons per acre at 12% moisture)
5454 7.60 84.2 * Yields indicated represent the sum of four
DK 127 7.43 88.6 cuttings
Mariner 738 86.1 'Grand mean CV, and LSD values
IMF Generation 713 86 3 represent 64 total entries
Multiqueen 7.10 80 6 'Varieties are listed by rank for 1996 yield
WL324 7,08 84 6 „
yyi_323 705 82 0 CV - Coefficient of variation
LSD - Least significant difference
Dividend 698 81.3
Preferred 697 85.8 Table 9
Magnum IV 6.93 85 4 1995 alfalfa variety tnals-Landisville
ABT 405 6 91 90.7
Haygrazer 689 80.9 Dealers Wanted Please Call
5312 689 86 8 1-800-435-5296
WL 332 SR 6.88 82 8
Excahbur II 6.86 84.9
Prism 2 684 85.9 FT j 7 . . - . I
wl 252 hq 6.81 815 In Latest 1997 Trials
innovator +Z 6.76 53.3 ««
Supercuts 6.76 83.3 03X31X3 54
Saranac AR IJT S?l Yielded 38 MllCh AS
SSSniiHM. SS 8.07 Tons Per Acre
8H330 +Z I'll lls Baralfa 54 Is palatable,
Grand Mean 6.95 84.3 digestible, profitable...
CV (%) 435 4.0 An#j PROVEN!
LSD (pmos) 0.42 4.7 ARO PHUYEWI
You will find Baralfa 54 very competively priced Baralfa is pre-mnoculated & certified. Barenbrug
is also a producer of:
* Barcel & Dovey Tall Fescue * Brassica & Turnips
* BG-34, BG-14, Tetra-Plus Perennial Ryegrass * Baralfa 321 Q Alfalfa
* Cambria & Pizza Orchardgrass * White and Red Clovers
* Improved high yielding Annual Ryegrass * Horse Master & Stock Master Improved Blends
Call Barenbrug for more information and (Nearest distribution center at 1-800-435-5296 or write to:
Barenbrug Northeast, pO Pox 99, Ogdentburg, NJ 07439
Using the information that alfalfa
growers supplied, we can see that al
falfa acreage has declined about 12
percent over the past 10 years. Grow
ers have reported that alfalfa yields
have not increased, and total tons of
alfalfa hay has declined.
Who is making up for the shortage
of alfalfa hay in Pennsylvania? Just
look at the prices of alfalfa hay at the
hay auctions. I propose that there ate
more opportunities in this state to pro
duce alfalfa hay and make a profit do
ing it
New Voile’s alfalfa acreage has de
clined at a faster rate, and Pennsylva
nia now harvests more acres of alfalfa
than our neighbor to the north. Since
New York and Pennsylvania rank #3
and #4 respectively for numbers of
dairy cows, there will always be a
good market for alfalfa hay.
Alfalfa hay growers have been in
creasing their yields during the past 10
years. While the ag statistics do not
suggest an increase, I think that the
improvements in genetics and better
management practices have given
growers better harvests. The fact is,
most hay growers don’t know what
their yields are, and are estimating.
They may be thinking as they fill out
the statistics report, “I only got three
cuts this year, that’s three tons per
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.)
Growers’ Comer is your oppor
tunity to ask questions and share tips
that lead to successful forage produc
tion and management
Please send your questions and/or
tips to PFGC News, C/O Dr. Marvin
Hall, Agronomy Dept., Penn State
Univ., University Park, PA 16802.
Question: Why don’t we grow
cool-season grasses and warm-season
grasses in a mixture? This combina
tion would provide forage throughout
the summer.
Answer: Several cultural con
siderations arc involved with why this
mixture isn’t recommended. Most
cool-season grasses (orchardgrass.
acre,”
The 1997 Forage Triasl Report was
recently released. Alfalfa yields in
1997 at Rockspring average from 5.22
tons per acre in a 4-year-old trial to
7.76 tons per acre in a 1-year-old
stand. At Landisville, yields went
from 6.34 tons per acre to 7.15 per
acre.
There is profit producing alfalfa.
The answer to that trivia question;
Lancaster County, with 54,500 acres
of alfalfa harvested in 1996. Bradford
County was second with 36,000 acres.
Hey, go plant some hay this spring!
* Chicory
* Custom Blends
Share Your Tips
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timothy, etc.) are much faster estab
lishing than warm-season grasses
(switchgrass or big bluestem). There
fore, the cool-season grasses will
crowd out the warm-season grasses
during establishment.
Even if you could get the cool- and
warm-season grasses established in a
mixture, there is a problem with har
vest management. Warm-season
grasses begin to grow in the early
summer after the cool-season grasses
have been growing for some time. The
cool-season grasses are ready to har
vest for the first time when the warm
season grasses have just grown a little
and their root energy reserves are low.
Mowing the mixture would weaken or
even kill the warm-season grasses.
With these difficulties in mind, it
would not be wise to plant both cool
and warm-season grasses in a mixture.
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