Dodge County Forage Council

The Dodge County Forage Council is dedicated to the production of higher quality forages through education and application.

Annual Events of the Dodge County Forage Council

  • January – Annual Meeting with Program
  • Spring – Predictive Equations for Alfalfa Quality (PEAQ) Alfalfa Testing
  • Summer – Twilight Meeting/Event
  • August – Youth Poster Contest at county fair
  • Fall – Corn Silage Drydown / Nitrate Testing

Forage Council Poster Contest

The 2023 poster contest theme is Alternative Forages – Pros vs. Cons.

Deadline for submission is August 1, 2023.

The winning selection will be displayed at the Dodge County Fair, Forage Council Annual Winter Meeting, and the 2024 Dairy Brunch. The poster will be returned afterwards.


Predictive Equations for Alfalfa Quality (PEAQ) Readings

Extension Dodge County and the Dodge County Forage Council are collecting biweekly PEAQ readings and scissor clip forage analysis starting May 16 until June 1, 2023, or as long as their alfalfa is standing.

Predictive Equations for Alfalfa Quality (PEAQ) is a method to measure standing alfalfa’s forage quality before it’s harvested. Agronomists at the University of Wisconsin – Madison developed this method to help predict alfalfa’s Relative Feed Value (RFV) at the time of cutting.

First-crop alfalfa can rapidly drop 3-5 points of RFV per day as plants mature. Alfalfa quality should be 150 RFV for milking dairy herds and 120-130 RFV for heifers, stocker cattle and lactating beef cattle.

2023 Alfalfa PEAQ Readings

ALFALFA READINGS

    PEAQ
DATE LOCATION RFV    Height
GROWTH STAGE AGE OF STAND/FIELD
5/16/2023 Rubicon 240 15.5″ Vegetative 1 yr.
  Rubicon 220 19.5″ Vegetative 2 yr.
  Hustisford 205 21″ Vegetative 2 yr.
5/18/2023 Rubicon 220 18″ Vegetative 1 yr.
  Rubicon 210 20″ Vegetative 2 yr.
  Waterloo 197 30″ Early Bud 2 yr.
5/22/2023 Ixonia 152 31″ Bud 2 yr.
  Rubicon 195 23″ Vegetative 1 yr. 
  Rubicon 180 26″ Vegetative 2 yr. 
5/25/2023 Rubicon 180 26″ Late Vegetative 1 yr. 
  Rubicon 165 28″ Bud 2 yr.

2022 Alfalfa PEAQ Readings

ALFALFA READINGS

    PEAQ SCISSOR CUTTINGS
DATE LOCATION RFV    Height
GROWTH STAGE AGE OF STAND/FIELD CP
ADF
NDF
RFV
RFQ
5/16/2022 Mayville 217.4 18.8″ Vegetative 2 yr.          
  Hustisford 219 18.7″ Vegetative 2 yr.          
  Watertown 215.8 19.2″ Vegetative 2 yr.          
5/19/2022 Mayville 209.5 20.1″ Vegetative 2 yr. 22.98 26.55 36.15 176 205
  Hustisford 203 21.4″ Vegetative 2 yr. 23.60 26.14 35.24 181 211
  Watertown 197 22.6″ Vegetative 2 yr. 25.0 25.21 36.62 176 206
5/23/2022 Mayville 184.5 25.1 Late Vegetative 2 yr. 22.21 28.14 37.08 168 190
  Hustisford 181.9 25.7 Late Vegetative 2 yr. 23.38 30.16 38.31 159 171
  Watertown 172.2 26.1 Early Bud 2 yr. 23.87 27.39 36.19 174 185
5/26/2022 Mayville         24.25 30.95 38.93 155 164
  Hustisford         23.30 30.25 40.88 149 175
  Watertown         22.70 29.54 41.32 148 173
5/30/2022 Mayville                  
  Hustisford                  
  Watertown                  
6/2/2022 Mayville                  
  Hustisford                  
  Watertown                  

2019 Alfalfa PEAQ Readings

Dodge County Forage Council’s PEAQ Readings will be reported May 20 – June 6, 2019.

Predictive Equations for Alfalfa Quality (PEAQ) is a method to measure standing alfalfa’s forage quality before it’s harvested. Agronomists at the University of Wisconsin – Madison developed this method to help predict alfalfa’s Relative Feed Value (RFV) at the time of cutting.

Several Dodge County Forage Council producers will be reporting PEAQ readings from around the county on Mondays and Thursdays, through June 6th, or as long as their hay is standing. When alfalfa RFV’s near 160, it’s usually time to start harvesting first-crop hay.

In addition to PEAQ readings this year, Extension Dodge County and the Forage Council, will be conducting three scissor cut samplings across the county to help farmers compare the estimated RFV values based on PEAQ readings to actual RFV values from the same fields.

That’s because first-crop alfalfa can rapidly drop 3-5 points of RFV per day as plants mature. Alfalfa quality should be 150 RFV for milking dairy herds and 120-130 RFV for heifers, stocker cattle and lactating beef cattle.

ALFALFA READINGS

    PEAQ SCISSOR CUTTINGS
DATE LOCATION RFV    Height
GROWTH STAGE AGE OF STAND/FIELD CP
ADF
NDF
RFV
RFQ
5/20/2019 Farmersville 224 18″ Vegetative 1st year 27.6 26.3 32 197  
  Hustisford 230 17″ Vegetative 2nd year 24.5 27 34 183  
  Watertown 211 20″ Vegetative 2nd year 26.9 25.9 32 194  
5/23/2019 Farmersville 200 22″ Late Vegetative 1st year 25.81 28.53 34.38 180 219
  Hustisford 217 19″ Late Vegetative 2nd year 24.5 28.12 35.22 177 206
  Watertown 190 24″ Late Vegetative 2nd year 24.38 27.24 34.69 181 209
5/28/2019 Farmersville 185 25″ Late Vegetative 1st year 22.61 30.37 39.27 155 180
  Hustisford 200 22″ Late Vegetative 2nd year 26.69 27.91 37.36 167 200
  Watertown 171 28″ Late Vegetative 2nd year 22.18 31.21 37.71 155 191
5/30/2019 Farmersville 167 29″ Late Vegetative 1st year 23.4 32.7 39.75 148 166
  Hustisford 175 27″ Late Vegetative 2nd year 26.94 29.47 36.61 168 192
  Watertown 163 30″ Late Vegetative 2nd year 27.9 25.39 34.34 187 224
6/3/2019 Farmersville 155 32″ Late Vegetative 1st year 23.49 31.12 37.95 158 182
  Hustisford 163 30″ Late Vegetative 2nd year 24.29 30.04 37.27 163 194
  Watertown 140 32″ Early bud 2nd year 26.53 23.76 31.71 207 235


Annual Winter Meeting Information

Register for the 2023 Forage Council Winter Meeting

Producers, consultants, agronomists, and nutritionists are invited to attend the Dodge County Forage Council 2023 Annual Winter Meeting on Thursday, March 24, 2023 at the Pizza Ranch in Watertown, WI.

Registration begins at 10:45 am, with the program starting promptly at 11:00 am.  The morning presentation will be presented by Dr. Brian Luck, UW-Madison Extension Specialist, Biological Systems Engineering Research. Dr. Luck will present on updates for wheel traffic on alfalfa.

The annual forage contest will take place within the lunch hour.

Dr. Marta Kohmann, UW-Madison Extension Specialist, will begin her discussion on alternative forages at 12:45 pm.

The final presentation by Will Fulwider, UW-Madison Extension Crops & Soils Educator for Dodge and Dane Counties, will highlight current on-farm research optimizing winter cereal forage nitrogen application.  

Three (3) Certified Crop Advisor CEU credits are available.

The Dodge County Forage Council annual meeting will follow the presentations and include a Midwest Forage Association (MFA) update, annual business, a review of 2022 activities, planning for 2023 events, and an announcement of the forage contest winners.  

Do not forget the Forage Contest! Producers can bring their best forage to be judged by their peers. One entry per category. Categories include: baleage, haylage, silage, and miscellaneous ensiled forages.  There is a limit of one entry per category. Please bring silage, haylage, and baylage in 1-gallon ziplock bags. Please no dry hay at this meeting.

Everyone attending the meeting will be able to vote once for each forage category. Votes will be tallied and prizes will be awarded to the winner of each category during the afternoon business meeting.  Attendees must be present to win.

Registration is requested by Wednesday, March 22. Walk ins are welcome. Registration fees include the program; pizza and drink, and annual Dodge County Forage Council dues. If interested, you can also pay for your membership in the Midwest Forage Association with your meeting registration.   

To register, complete a registration form and return with payment to Extension Dodge County, 127 East Oak Street, Juneau. WI 53039, Attn: Forage Council. Make checks payable to “Dodge County Forage Council”.

This meeting is co-hosted by Extension Dodge County, Dodge County Forage Council, and the Midwest Forage Association.  For more information, contact the Extension office at 920-386-3790, or visit the Extension Dodge County website at https://dodge.extension.wisc.edu or connect with us on Facebook.

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