Alfalfa & Forage News

Painted lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui) are dazzling us with color, but surprising us with sporadic finds of caterpillars on crops this year, including alfalfa, pistachio, walnuts, artichokes, and hybrid sunflower (see IPM Advisor Emily Symmes blog: What's that Caterpillar on my Weeds?).

It is both a blessing and a curse that alfalfa in California's Central Valley essentially grows all winter long. Although we can get very high early yields, if conditions are too wet, the fields look pretty ragged after a winter which saw rains in excess of 130% of normal.

There is little doubt that the heavy late rains we've seen in spring, 2019 in the northern part of California will reduce yields and quality for many alfalfa growers. How much depends upon soil type and the flooding risk of individual fields and the health of the plants during this stress period.

Have you seen this crop injury in your Roundup-Ready Field or conventionl field? If so, we want to hear from you. We are asking alfalfa growers everywhere to look for the following symptoms (below) of injury in Roundup-Ready (or RR-HarvXtra) alfalfa or even in conventional fields.

In a period when we've had high rains, it's very difficult to manage excessive winter growth in a Mediterranean climate.