Alfalfa Harvest Alert for May 12th, 2026

Photo: University of Minnesota

By: Jackie Estrem, UMN Extension Educator- Sustainable Agriculture, Stearns, Benton, Morrison, & Sherburne Counties and Taylor Herbert, UMN Extension Educator Crops, Wright, McLeod, & Meeker Counties

With the weather and current soil conditions, the Alfalfa Harvest Alert Project, also called Scissor Cut, is having a slow start to the year. The cooler temperatures we have been experiencing have slowed alfalfa growth this spring. Fields in the south central region have hit the 14 inch mark while fields in north and west central Minnesota are lagging behind at 3 to 9 inches tall. We have also received reports of some significant winter kill, especially on sandy soil with farmers considering interseeding with cool-season grasses or calling it a day and tilling fields under. We have also seen some minor frost damage with slight browning on leaf edges. The first Scissor Cut samples were taken on May 7th and 11th. The warmth over the next few days should help growth pick up again for the remaining samples taken later this week.

While we don’t have too much Scissor Cut data to look through, take a moment to fill out the alfalfa pest needs assessment survey at z.umn.edu/alfalfapestsurvey. This online survey lets you voice what issues you are seeing in the field first-hand for alfalfa pests. Participating in the survey will help determine what areas of Minnesota and surrounding states have had increased issues with insect outbreaks and direct future alfalfa educational programming and research.

The goal of the Alfalfa Harvest Alert program is to alert growers to start the first cut of alfalfa when the crop is at a level of quality and yield potential that meets their specific needs. As a reminder, the goal is not to try and name the exact day of harvest. Rather the goal is to encourage growers who are busy with management of other crops to be more strategic with hay crop harvest as it relates to their needs.

How to get harvest alert data

The May 12th Alfalfa Harvest Alert data is available as a pdf. However, there is also a tool that contains this year’s data and all the data from every county and farm that has participated in the Alfalfa Harvest Alert Program since 1997. As an added bonus, this year we are also including data from University of Wisconsin Madison Extension! Go to z.umn.edu/AlfalfaHarvestAlert to view the data. You can also get the most recent information through email by signing up at z.umn.edu/QuadCountySignup and clicking the "Alfalfa Scissor-Cut and Harvest Alert" box.

Contact information

If you have any questions, please contact Jackie Estrem, UMN Extension Educator- Sustainable Agriculture, Stearns, Benton, Morrison, & Sherburne Counties at estre060@umn.edu, (763)-515-1023, or Taylor Herbert, UMN Extension Educator- Crops, Wright, McLeod, & Meeker Counties at therbert@umn.edu, (612)-394-5229.