Final Alfalfa Harvest Alert for 2026

Alfalfa plant at the late bud growth stage. Photo: UMN Extension

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

That’s a wrap! All cooperators for the Alfalfa Scissor Cut Harvest Alert Program finished harvest as of Monday June 1st. Hay harvest was relatively timely this year. With limited precipitation preventing farmers from getting into the field, they were able to time harvest with their ideal forage quality window. Cooperator fields were all harvested somewhere between early to late bud growth stage and we observed limited insect activity across the geography we cover.

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.

Thank you for following along with us in 2026, and we look forward to bringing you this program again in 2027!

How to get harvest alert data

The June 2nd 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.