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Heavy alfalfa winterkill hits Mille Lacs, BentonBy Joel Stottrup Frozen septic sewer lines were not the only casualties in the Princeton area last winter when the lack of snow allowed the frost to penetrate deeper than usual. There was also alfalfa loss due to winterkill. The area involved was enough of Mille Lacs and Benton counties that both counties have applied for designation as federal crop disaster areas in regard to alfalfa. Alfalfa, a high-protein type of hay commonly grown and sought for cows, was dealt a one-two punch starting last summer and early fall and ending during the winter, according to Dan Martens, a regional U of M Extension educator who works out of the Foley office in Benton County. Martens, who estimated last week that "probably over 90 percent of the alfalfa crop died in Benton County during the winter," said the problems began with the alfalfa going into the winter with weakened roots. That happened from excessive moisture buildup last fall, resulting in the alfalfa "not hardening off and going dormant as well for the winter," Martens explained. Then came the winter with no snow accumulating until the very end. Lack of snow meant frost penetrating deeper than normal into the ground and the alfalfa dying, he said. Jay Backowski, the Farm Service Agency director in the Foley office which handles Benton and Mille Lacs counties, said last week that he knew of one farmer who plowed under 300 acres of alfalfa in Benton County because of winterkill. Some similar reports on a smaller scale have been heard in Mille Lacs County. One Princeton farmer who was mentioned didn't care to have his situation publicized but another who didn't mind talking about it, Ron Shelley, said Friday he lost about 40 acres of alfalfa. Shelley said that when he saw the wet fall conditions and the lack of snow in the winter, he was expecting to see a lot of alfalfa kill. Shelley admitted that the loss "hurt." But then he said that as a farmer, he doesn't worry about it and just keeps on going. What he will have to do is just buy more hay for the coming winter, he said. Farm Service Agency director Backowski said he has talked to area crop consultants about the alfalfa kill last winter. What he learned, he said, was that the last time there was anything similar was in 1989. But it appears, he said, the amount lost this time was much greater. "This amount is very unusual," he said. Applying for help County commissioners pass a resolution for declaring a certain amount of a crop has been ruined. Martens said that there has to be more than 30 percent of an individual major crop lost to request federal assistance. County commissioners in Benton recently passed such a resolution and so have the ones in Mille Lacs. The resolutions go to the state Office of Emergency Management and if the information satisfies that board, then it goes to the governor for signing and then forwarded to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., said Martens and Backowski. That department then makes the decision if crop disaster aid is warranted, they said. The federal government can then offer lower-interest loans than might otherwise be available, or possibly go beyond to make some kind of payment to qualifying farmers, Martens said. Martens figured that 200 to 500 Benton farmers have experienced alfalfa loss due to winterkill this past winter. Benton has 200 dairy producers that definitely make use of alfalfa so there are definitely more than 200 farmers affected since there are also beef farmers, he said. Backowski estimated that the alfalfa kill in Mille Lacs County totaled about 8,500 acres. Martens, pondering the potential federal assistance programs, said that farmers normally don't want to take the federal loans because they don't want more debt. Martens was asked if the demand for hay could mean higher hay prices. Martens said he didn't think so because the winterkill was limited to a relatively small area and that the overall hay supply in the Upper Midwest is "pretty good." Princeton Union-Eagle |