Growing Alfalfa

Bill VA

Well-known Member
I've got a small - probably 2 acre slice of ground next to one of my hayfields that we just finished clearing from wilderness - back to a potential
hay field. I'll probably use this strip for some test/lessons learned planting before committing whatever I plant there to larger acrage.

I think I'd like to plant it in alfalfa. It would give us a whole new variety of hay to learn first hand.

Question is - can you plant alfalfa in the spring and expect much in the way of a first year's crop?

The field will get fertilizer and lime over the winter per our soil sample in prep for spring. Since the plot is so small, we'll disk up everything, hit
whatever weeds come out of it afterwards with round up. Next we'll broadcast the seed and cultipack down.

Any recommendations on alfalfa seed type/preference? Should I consider RR ready alfalfa or is it to new for prime time?

We would make square bales of it when cut. Curious also of some average tons per acre yield estimates too.

Any sage advice, tips or tricks are much appreciated.

Thanks!
Bill
 
Rr alfalfa is worth the money, especially on new ground. I think I'd skip the first spraying before you plant. The new alfalfa is supposed to be sprayed when very young, only a couple inches tall. Just work it, plant it, then spray it and you'll be good to go. Just fyi, alfalfa does not like clay or very wet ground. Don't know what you have, just throwing it out there.

Yield wise, I got about 1600lb per acre on 1st, 900lb on 2nd and 3rd each, and 650lb on 4th. That's a 2yr old field in central lower michigan that's been soil tested and fertilizer applied yearly accordingly. That's baled dry hay also.
 
In my area there is no need for rr alfalfa. Nothing grows in winter, cut alfalfa 3-4 cuttings every 30 days, no weeds really put up with that sort of cutting schedule.

Seems a waste of money 'here'.

In a more moderate climate, or common long drought periods, I bet it is worth a lot, where weeds can get a better chance at growing while the alfalfa is dormant.

Neighbors like to plant alfalfa in fall now, about September. Few weed issues thrn, and you get it established before winter, get full crop next year. Just don't cut it, it looks nice but it needs to keep it top on to survive winter that first year with a fall seeding!

Spring planted can be weedy without a cover crop of oats. (I guess that's what the roundup feature is for? Much more expensive than the oats tho....) With a cover, you can bale off the cover crop as it starts heading, and get a second cutting of alfalfa.

After that 3-4 cuttings a year here.

Paul
 
What are you going to be doing with the alfalfa? If you are going to feed it or sell it to horse people consider planting a grass with it.The grass improves the quality and as the alfalfa thins out with age the grass fills in. Even to dairy people in my area alfalfa with grass out sells strait alfalfa. The grass makes it dry better for baling as well. Tom
 
Thanks everyone! Very helpful info.

The goal is to sell all of the alfalfa in small squares. Probably some horse customers, maybe some cow customers and what seems to be an emerging market around me is dairy goats! Never would have thunk - but goats are in vogue in these parts.

Question - RR ready alfalfa: You plant the stuff, hopefully it comes in thick enough, and as was said, the frequent cuttings help put the kibosh on weeds. Spraying it with RR might be few and far between. We are the Sudra Arabia of rocks, so no plowing under a tired alfalfa stand. If not Round Up, how do you kill this RR alfalfa out? Or would the best route be to overseed with grass hay and let the alfalfa stand peter out over time. Or am I missing the point - RR alfalfa is resistant to round up, but 2,4-d will take it out?

Thanks!
Bill
 
Only time mine has ever been sprayed is when it first comes up. There's a recommended window as when to spray it. You do have to plant it a few pounds heavier, but only putting in 2 acres won't make a difference. One bag should do it. I plant mine 20lbs/acre. Some go heavier, some lighter. As far as killing it, I don't know. But round up is all it's resistant to.

Check with your local seed dealer and have them check stuff out. Normally very knowledgeable.


I never thought the extra expense of rr was worth it, until I had a spring planted field get over run with lambs quarter. I cut it early, and it was a dry summer, but that is my worst field. Clean now, but damage was done up front.
 
My highest tonnage fields are the ones with grass mixed in with it, mostly Orchard but planted a bunch with tall fescue and it turned out great this year! If you put grass in with it you want to watch the fescue, some people have a bad taste for the stuff, mostly the ones that dealt with endophytes in the old fescue!
 
Get a good handle on fertility first... especially lime. Alfalfa likes 6.5 to 7 ph. Also know your weeds. If there are perrenials like quackgrass or dandelion, control those first with roundup prior to tillage.

That may require some disking, which will help seed more weeds.

I plant usually in late April. (WI) We no-till seed following a roundup burndown. We could seed earlier, but waiting a bit and then spraying first has worked well. We get great stands, and dont need to spend the money on RR alfalfa. As mentioned below, we use roundup to kill the alfalfa in notill, so RR alfalfa is not something I want to do.

I'd suggest you use a drill to seed and not broadcast. If you do get some weeds, if they are annuals, odds are they will not smother the stand and will die out upon seeing the mower the first time. This may reduce hay quality somewhat, but there are worse things.

good luck.
 
RR alfalfa. Guys plant it in fall or spring spray it at 4 th leaf stage. Let it bloom before 1st cutting, spray again round up, foliar feed and pesticide. After 2nd give it more dry potash. When you get a nice stand spray it again in following yrs then interseed your grass the last 2 yrs of stand.
 
RR Alfalfa is WELL over $400/ 50 lb bag. If you burn-down in the fall and you sew your alfalfa in the spring with a nurse crop (such as oats), and cut the oat/alfalfa mix around the boot stage for hay, then the subsequent alfalfa growth will fill out nicely. Because it will be midsummer at this point, the weed pressure will be minimal, thus in my opinion, making RR alfalfa pretty much a waste of money. As others have said, #1 is fertility and ph. If you plan to plant the alfalfa in the spring, straight up, then yes, RR seed may pay off but if you manage your planting timing correctly, and use a nurse crop you shouldn't need to spray. One alfalfa trait that may be worth paying for though is leaf-hopper resistant seed.
 
I've averaged about 3.4 T on my alfalfa/OG the past 12 years. Annual soil samples and annual application of P and K.
Alfalfa put up in small squares, average sales of $225T
Net was about 475 $ per acre, all machinery and labor was mine. Hay sold out of field.
 
I planted alfalfa one year in the spring. I got a good stand, but it turned off dry and I got no hay off of it the first year. Not sure I would ever plant it in spring again. Planting it in fall gives it a chance to get a lot more established before the following year hay season. If you cleared timber off the ground, make sure you do a good job picking up all the debree. Tree limbs, stumps and tree roots and all that. That stuff would be no good on equipment when haying it. My 2 cents.
 
Bill Va. To kill RR alafafa you plow it under. Check with your potential customers, a lot of people with high dollar livestock wont take delivery of hay with a trace of RR alalafa in it.
 

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