Now is the time to check alfalfa stands Late last week, as I walked through an alfalfa field on my way to a 2024 corn field that will be planted to a soybean experiment this spring, alfalfa re-growth was spotty at best (Figure 1). A look from a distance hinted at decent survival and regrowth, but upon closer inspection, many of the green plants observed were dandelions.... Figure 2 illustrates that the lack of insulating, protection-providing snow cover didn't kill every plant. Figure 1. An alfalfa stand near Gary, MN in late April 2025. Note: most of the green is dandelions. Figure 2. Some lone alfalfa crowns showing signs of life surrounded by many more that were not. Assess plant health, plant population and stem density There are three things that one should look at to determine whether an alfalfa crop is likely to be productive enough to keep, needs rehabilitation or should be scrapped and another forage crop seeded. Briefly, from multiple areas of the field, 1) d...
