Start Date
2-24-2000 1:45 PM
Description
The following calendar provides producers and agricultural professionals with insights that may improve alfalfa production in several ways. First, knowing when to expect certain diseases improves one's ability to diagnose disease problems, which is a fundamental foundation for disease management. The many UK Extension Service publications on alfalfa as well as publications like the Alfalfa Analyst and the Compendium of Alfalfa Diseases, all are useful for diagnosis, but none provides a precise calendar of when to expect activity of alfalfa diseases in Kentucky. An alfalfa disease calendar can also provide occasional insights into timely management practices. For example, being able to recognize when leaf spots are attacking your crop helps aid in making the decision to harvest promptly to avoid losses in yield and quality. As another example, recognizing when Aphanomyces root rot has been active on a farm can help guide a producer to selecting a resistant variety in the future. Finally, having a better understanding of disease dynamics in alfalfa helps the producer and agricultural professional to better develop and customize alfalfa production systems suited to the unique circumstances on each farm.
In the calendar below, each month is represented by two sections: early to mid-month and mid- to late month. Each of these can be read as stand-alone sections, without reference to other sections of the calendar. Thus, readers can use only those sections needed for any given time of year.
Included in
An Alfalfa Disease Calendar
The following calendar provides producers and agricultural professionals with insights that may improve alfalfa production in several ways. First, knowing when to expect certain diseases improves one's ability to diagnose disease problems, which is a fundamental foundation for disease management. The many UK Extension Service publications on alfalfa as well as publications like the Alfalfa Analyst and the Compendium of Alfalfa Diseases, all are useful for diagnosis, but none provides a precise calendar of when to expect activity of alfalfa diseases in Kentucky. An alfalfa disease calendar can also provide occasional insights into timely management practices. For example, being able to recognize when leaf spots are attacking your crop helps aid in making the decision to harvest promptly to avoid losses in yield and quality. As another example, recognizing when Aphanomyces root rot has been active on a farm can help guide a producer to selecting a resistant variety in the future. Finally, having a better understanding of disease dynamics in alfalfa helps the producer and agricultural professional to better develop and customize alfalfa production systems suited to the unique circumstances on each farm.
In the calendar below, each month is represented by two sections: early to mid-month and mid- to late month. Each of these can be read as stand-alone sections, without reference to other sections of the calendar. Thus, readers can use only those sections needed for any given time of year.