- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
Spiny buttercup (Ranunculus muricatus) is a non-native plant, that is fairly common, especially in wet areas such as meadows. We also find it in crops, including orchards, pastures, and cereal grain fields. It's both an annual and perennial plant that blooms from March to May, with seed pods that are large and prickly. Though it's pretty with the bright yellow flowers, don't be fooled, as it has a dark side, so should be controlled.
First, according to Dr. Birgit Puschner, UC Davis Vet Med Toxicologist, all buttercups contain ranunculin, though there are differences in species in terms of toxin levels. In pastures, because the plant is bitter, animals simply eat around it. But if ingesting the fresh plant, they...
- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
- Author: Mariano Galla
- Author: Konrad Mathesius
- Author: Sarah Light
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Yikes, my weed control didn't work! It's springtime and you're looking at your seedling alfalfa field that you planted late last fall. You have a great stand, but you're not quite satisfied with the level of weed control despite an earlier herbicide application. You still see weeds out there, including bristly oxtongue, thistles, mustard, dandelion, and fiddleneck. You know that weed infestations can weaken young alfalfa plants, retard growth, delay the first cutting, reduce quality, and result in long term damage to crop yield and stand persistence.
The field is still a seedling stand, considered as such until at least the first hay cutting (around the 6-9 leaf stage and a crown is forming). The...
- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
- Author: Mick Canevari
- Author: Daniel H Putnam
A tough decision in producing alfalfa hay is what to do with a seedling stand that's marginal, at best. Do you keep it, overseed with alfalfa or another forage, or do you replant or alternatively rotate to another crop? If so, when and how?
Mother Nature Strikes! Sometimes factors beyond our control result in alfalfa stand losses. For example, this past winter, the long dry spell and lack of access to water, stressed seedling development. This, along with freezing temperatures, resulted in seedlings dying. Last year we had too much water, leading to saturated soils, disease problems and stand loss.
In other situations, poor stands result from poor soil...
- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
- Author: Dan Putnam
Put on that jacket! This winter has been cold and dry, and many of our crops have felt it, including almonds, but also alfalfa! Fortunately, alfalfa has a high degree of tolerance but yields can also be reduced due to frost.
Frost Damage. We had record high temperatures in early February (near 80oF) followed by record lows (27oF on Feb 24, CIMIS data, Davis site). This caused some frost damage to alfalfa fields in many areas of the San Joaquin and the Sacramento Valley, with tip burn and dieback in the upper canopy.
Established alfalfa has good frost tolerance and will readily regrow once the weather warms. Harvest may be delayed by a week or two, depending...
- Author: Daniel H Putnam
- Author: Mark Lundy
- Author: Rachael Long
Please mark your calendars for the annual Small Grains/Alfalfa-Forages Field Day to be held at the University of California, Davis Agronomy Field Headquarters from 8AM – 4:30PM (Morning-Small Grains, Afternoon-Alfalfa/Forages). We will send out an agenda closer to the date. We hope to see you there!
FREE LUNCH!
Barbeque Lunch provided by California Crop Improvement Association.
Please see http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu/...
