Field prep

Bob

You plant the two at the same time. Alfalfa is very weak in the knees when it is young.

The nurse crop protects it and lets it get a toe hold during this critical early stage.

Once the nurse crop is taken off, that hay will come on strong on its own.

Hope this helps, and good luck.,

Allan

Thanks that is what I deeded to know. I am interested in wild life management, and would like to be able to keep animals at a level of high survival. The winters here get snowy and cold which depletes they chances of survival by 30% in a bad winter. With a chance of receiving better feed their chances are multiplied. Thanks again.

Bob

And thanks to you for thinking the way you do.

Yes, mankind has encroached on these critters until we are to the point of driving them out of existence.

We are even endangering one another. :>)

Allan

I agree with Rusty with one exception.

You want a fairly firm seedbed for that nurse crop and like he says, you want it nice and level; Your old bean field is perfect for a future hay field.

Hit it with a disc at a medium depth and do it at an angle. Follow with a field harrow at the opposite angle. Then, drill in your seed using a totally different field pattern.

This way, you are bringing the tillage up from deep to shallow. Oats and the like do not do well on loose, deep tilled soil.

If you are lucky and hit it right, the oats will come rearin' up out of the ground and will cover quickly holding back the weeds.

Get the oats off as early as possible next summer and you still may get your first cutting of hay yet next fall.

Dat's the way I did it anyway,

Allan