ALFALFA AFTER ALFALFA

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
brother bob thinks he can cut his petered out alfalfa ,,? wait 2 weeks ,spray kill,, moldboard plow the field , work it down and replant NEW ALFALFA IN SAME FIELD THIS FALL ,,.. I say he will get into nitrogen alfalfa poisoning .... but what DO I KNOW ...LOL
 
The different diseases that killed the original crop will still be there, and kill the new plants very quickly. Not a good idea.....
 
isn't alfalfa autotoxic (produces toxin to stop/slow growth of new alfalfa plants), i doubt that 2 weeks is long enough for the toxin to disappear... i'd plant something else for one season, the reseed alfalfa...
 
It"s not safe to plow it this year and reseed alfalfa next Spring.......just a waste of expensive seed.
 
Just an afterthought. What do you use to spray RU ready alfalfa? Guy at a food plot demo talked it up. Whatever you use, I'll bet it's not cheap. Lots of other products to get the grass/weeds out of alfalfa. There weren't any takers at 400-plus per bag. Just to kill a deer?????

Larry
 
I had a cousin tell me that he thought there was a variety now that was immune to autotoxicity. He said he was talking to somebody who works for a dairy guy here and they had used it.
I hadn't heard of such a thing myself,and he said he never had before either,so it might or might not be true.
 
my brother and I do not know of any ,either ,, maybe it is out there ???....he works with a guy that claims if alfalfa is less than 25 percent ,,, the toxicity is minimal ,,,,and the new seed will make hay .guess this guy got lucky and made it work ? ...maybe ??,, but I argue and agree as you fellas do ,,, it is not worth the risk of expense to make a go of it
 
It might work, but the odds are against it.

The research on it shows if any alfalfa plants are present, they need to be dead, and then wait 3 months of good growing weather before replanting alfalfa seed. A growing alfalfa plant over a year old is putting out toxins up to 2 feet around it that suppress new alfalfa seedlings.

Most would plant a grass crop in between to use up the N you get for free in the ground, like corn, but technically you could kill the alfalfa after first cutting, then come back in early fall and reseed to alfalfa.

A person can get lucky and have it work out inter seeding or waiting only 2 weeks, but that will be the exception, not the rule. It works just often enough that a friend has had a friend hear of it working so it must be ok right?

If it works, likely your old alfalfa was dormant from a long drought and allowed the toxins to break down, and the old alfalfa was not actively growing to put new toxins in the ground for several months. Then you need to get lucky and have a good rain after you seed to grow the new seeds. All in all a very risky thing to try, with how expensive alfalfa seed is.

Most times he will get the same patchy poor stand he has right now.

Paul
 
Here is a bit more about it:

http://m.hayandforage.com/mag/farming_alfalfa_alfalfa_alfalfa

The keys to making it work are a dry environment, and not having any leaves on the ground.

Works in a very efficient SW dry climate alfalfa operation, doesn't work in a typical wetter climate with less efficient harvesting with leaf loss.....

Paul
alfalfa on alfalfa
 
You just use Roundup. My son planted some it is great! just spray with roundup and permeation(bug killer) before it gets to tall after you bale it.
 

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