Alfalfa production in NW Iowa

Hello, just thinking about putting in some alfalfa next year and trying to run a few numbers on if it would pan out or not. I am located in northwest Iowa, in sioux county. Any ideas or input on how many ton a acre our soil would produce?

Have you done a soil test to see what the soil needs??

Yes, we have had the soil tested it a couple years ago. We have always fertilized the ground very very well, especially since we had a abundance of cattle manure around and chicken litter and of course, nitrogen every year whether it be liquid or dry, which doesn't really matter. But regardless, the soil isn't lacking anything that I can remember. I will look and see if I can find our soil test with the specifics.

Guys around here (E SD) tried alfalfa as a cash crop. With a lot of acres, weather is a big factor. Either rains and ruins the hay in the windrow or doesn't rain and no crop. After 4-5 years they gave up and went to row crops.

In Michigan with our relatively frequent rains, hay can be a challenge at times. I raised alfalfa for about 20 years, and only had to chop one crop back on the field. But I baled some that wasn't very high quality from rain. More important is where you will sell it. Can you sell big round bales or will it have to be in small squares? Will you have to store it, handle it twice, maybe deliver it? I sold a lot to people that couldn't handle rounds and couldn't haul it, but you have to get a premium to make out. Just some thoughts. Hay is not corn, you can't haul it to a local mill and sell it anytime. Marketing is key.

We can pull about 2 ton an acre of hay first cutting and around 1 ton an acre second cutting. I'm in west centeral wisconsin so 30 inches of rain is a good year. Iowa is about the same till you get to the west side than it drops off, I would look at the rain fall in your area. Also it's harder to spread manure on hay feilds, unless it's liquid or fine. Depending on you feed needs you could blend a Alfalfa, brome , timmothy grass mix. Pure alfalfa is hard to dry if making hay. Good luck

When you say run a few cows on it, do you mean grazing on it. We tried it years ago on a small acreage. The cows ate the crowns of the alfalfa. The next year we had a good crop of timothy and orchard grass. We used an old standard alfalfa aeed called Iroquois. Unless you can find a newer variety that has a low crown, I would be a little leary of doing it.
If your talking about bailing it, I am not sure how it wouuld do. I live in Western NY and q lot or guys bale some. Most of it is chopped.

I'll agree with Casecollector. I'm from northwest Iowa too only a couple of counties east of you. You guys in Sioux county can grow some tremendous crops including hay with all the manure you have available to you along with well drained soil that alfalfa likes. The problem we have here in Iowa is too much humidity. First cutting in the spring/summer puts out a lot of tons but 80-90 percent humidity doesn't give the hay much time to dry before evening when the dew comes back on again. As I understand you do have a good hay auction in Rock Valley so that's to your advantage on the pricing side of things. Push a realistic pencil to it first before you make the move. If you can find a local cattle producer who will come and HARVEST IT ON TIME and will PAY YOU ON TIME you will have a better chance of making it work. CHOOSE YOUR CUSTOMER WISELY. I had cash hay on some sandy ground for awhile and it possibly paid almost as well as corn or beans would on that sand, but getting the darned stuff baled without rain was almost impossible. Then one time a cash customer said he would cut and bale and haul it and hand me a check. He was so late coming to cut the second cutting the alfalfa stems had died and it was leafing out at the base of the plants. I called him repeatedly and left messages on his machine but he never came. I just couldn't get ahold of him. I finally called in a cattle feeder neighbor who came and baled the dry stems and used it for bedding. The next day after the hay was hauled away the first guy came to cut it. He chewed my rear end chewed for selling it out from under him. Oh yes, then there was the customer who didn't pay me for a year......

i must have bad eye site i didn;t see ware he is saying any think about cows

Kent your right. I thought when he said a few numbers he meant cows.

We are about 80miles sw of sioux city and we can get 4to 5 ton per acre.I don't think we get as much rain as you do, over on the east side of the river. Usually 4 cuttings.First cutting is usually around the 28th of may.Try to keep your windrows as wide as you possibly can.[speeds drying] and try not to drive on the windrows.[Hay that has been driven on especially on the endrows doesn't dry very fast]Seed cost can vary alot.We plant 15 to 20 lbs per acre.Hope it works out for you.

Kent this is called reading between the lines. LOL

There's a lot of farmers making big money on alfalfa in SE SD.They have the right equipment. Put up big squares and sell it for about 200/T to IA dairy farms. They also have the self propelled swathers/ conditioners. that cut 20 acres and hour. Condition the hay, it can be done in 72 hours. With todays radar and weather in your pocket in your iphone there is almost zero chance for rain on your alfalfa. I put up alfalfa for the last 10 years and had rain on it once.
For sure better cash crop tha$5 corn. Especially you have the market there and can load semis full of round bales in 45 minutes.
The big plus is there is no seeding and no nitrogen requirement a little P and K every year and that's it. Maybe a spraying for fungus or pests in an odd year. Stand should last 8-9 years.You can also cut a lot of hay in a day with a 16 foot haybine (MOCO)

Ph should be 6.5 or higher for alfalfa. Alfalfa also requires a lot of K...

"running the numbers" is doing the income/expense math to determine profitability. Pasturing cows on straight alfalfa is asking for trouble with bloat.

With a Brillion style packer the seeding rate could be cut to 10 lbs/acre. With good alfalfa seed at $5/lb, it doesn"t take long to pay for a packer. Packers can be had for a couple hundred bucks.