seeding alfalfa

Anonymous-0 · Aug 27, 2012

Hey all
I ve got a thirty acre field that has been hay on hay for last 20 years. It was reseeded about 7 years ago, not by me. Ive rented it the last three years, yields steadily decreasing. The owners are totally against spraying any chemical and it is to steep for corn or beans. So I am looking for options to seed it down with a brome timothy and alfalfa mix. Beef hay for my father in law. Im in Wisconsin. Heres what im thinking of doing, Planting winter rye asap then in spring take a cutting of rye at boot stage. Then work field and plant my alfalfa mix. or??? Is this a good idea or is there a better option? Thanks in advance for all responses.

bison · Aug 27, 2012

I would kill it with roundup this fall and work it in.
Next spring i would seed it with your choice of alphalpa/grass mix.
You get a better alphalpha stand that way versus underseeding with grain.
i would also throw in a lb/acre of meadow foxtail.
By the time the alphalpha is petered out the meadow foxtail will have filled in.It yields almost as much as the original mix.
Or underseed with oats and cut and bale for green feed.

But it may not work in your area.

Ken Macfarlane · Aug 27, 2012

Note he said the owners say no spray. I've got a bunch of the same
type of ground, except the owners also want no chemical fertilizer
or manure. I can plant legumes to get some nitrogen, I think they
might let me spread woodash, not sure how to address the rest
other than getting the ph right to gain access to what little is left in
the field.

rrlund · Aug 27, 2012

Is there any alfalfa in there now? And from what I'm reading you want to reseed some alfalfa?
Won't work. Wasting your money. Alfalfa has an autotoxicity whereby the old plants will kill any newly seeded alfalfa.

If you have some wackjob dolt who's opposed to spraying,you have two choices. Get rid of him,or seed to just grass or grass and clover.

KobeJohnson · Aug 27, 2012

thanks guys would really like to get this reseeded as finding ground to rent is getting harder and harder and more expensive. I also dont want to take other peoples ground from them. This is my only piece of hay ground. Any other ideas on how to make this piece yield better? I dont neccessarilly need alfalfa as this is all beef hay.

KobeJohnson · Aug 27, 2012

ther is a little alfalfa there not much tho, mainly grass and clover

donjr · Aug 27, 2012

Interseed it with a no till drill, no alfalfa. Do a soil test and lime and fertilize to recommendation.

tjdub · Aug 28, 2012

What I do is take first crop off around June 1, then immediately plow it and seed sudangrass. Sudangrass is ready to cut by July 15, then again by August 20. Then in the spring I seed oats w/alfalfa.

The only trouble is Sudangrass is tough to dry down for hay. If you don't have any way to wrap it for balage, it probably isn't going to work well. Also, you have to buy nitrogen which gets expensive. Oh, and horses can't eat it.

Other alternatives are pearl millet or teff. I've never tried teff, but one year I tried pearl millet and it only ended up yielding about half as many bales as the sudangrass or sorghum-sudangrass.

Anonymous-0 · Aug 28, 2012

thats a good idea i might try that I do wrap my bales anyway
thanks

seeding alfalfa

Anonymous-0

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bison

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Ken Macfarlane

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rrlund

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KobeJohnson

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KobeJohnson

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donjr

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tjdub

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Anonymous-0

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