The Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association is looking for producers to take part in their 2024 Green Gold program.
The goal of this program is to encourage growers to be strategic with their alfalfa hay crop harvest, making decisions based on specific feed, market needs and field observations.
Producers with hay fields that are mostly alfalfa, fairly new and in good condition are being asked to sign up.
Participants send field samples through May and June to the Central Testing Laboratory (CTL) for analysis and receive field reports twice a week based on those samples.
CTL will predict the best date for the first cut based on when the alfalfa stand is at optimum quality.
The MFGA notes that with the environmental conditions over the last few years, some fields have reached optimum quality well before the traditional early bloom stage or 150 RV.
They say if producers had waited, harvest would have been delayed by up to 2 weeks and RFV would have been in the 110 range.
Courier costs for the program are being picked up by MFGA.
For more information and to sign up for the program click here.