Heading into Memorial Day weekend, Crop Watcher Blake Burggraff was waiting to bale his first cutting of alfalfa, and it was looking good.
“It’s just a gorgeous crop of alfalfa,” he said. “It looks like the highest quality hay we can put up normally at and the end of the year. I’m really happy.”
Burggraff began his first cutting May 22 but had to wait for the afternoon because of equipment breakdowns. It wasn’t ideal because the plant doesn’t wilt the same as in the morning, he said, but it turned out well.
The Burggraffs make small square bales, and picking them up after baling takes longer than if they made big, round bales. He was hoping for the fair weather to hold through the holiday weekend so they could complete the work.
The Hartford area got an 1.58 inches of rain over Mother’s Day weekend.
“That really helped us out,” Burggraff said.
His hemp crop responded well. It was about 6-8 inches tall the last week of May. Condition varied depending on the field.
The best looking crop was on ground that had been growing sorghum Sudan grass the year before. It’s about a year ahead of the other fields into this diverse crop rotation, which Burggraff suspects is helping. Another hemp field that was planted on last year’s soybean ground and fertilized with a heavy layer of manure is looking nice, he said. The hemp that followed an oat cover crop could use some improvement.
Weed control is the main issue. Burggraff said he would like to have planted the oat cover crop deeper and seeded it sooner to help control the weeds. With another nice shot of rain, he suspects the hemp will get tall enough to shade out some weeds.
Source: agupdate.com
Photo Credit: gettyimages-pamwalker68
Categories: South Dakota, Crops, Hay & Forage, Alfalfa, Equipment & Machinery, Weather