Seeding Alfalfa in Late Summer

Warren C. Thompson National Forage Specialist: America’s Alfalfa

Many years ago, one of the best plant pathologists I ever knew explained Sclerotonia to me this way; “Sclerotinia fungus is everywhere. It usually strikes struggling new alfalfa or even red clover similar to the cold-flu syndrome in humans. When we add to this situation of planting the crops on marginal soils and you can expect the disease to hit and hit hard”. For all of these reasons you should always make alfalfa plantings early enough to get them off to a great start before ‘winter sets in’. And six weeks or more gives you a great shot to hit the best growing time for plants to flourish and ward off these problems.

If you live in the humid area where sprinkle irrigation is not commonly used but is available and the soil is dry, a 2 to 4 inch ‘drink’ can pay big dividends. This is especially so when you are running out of early fall growing time, the water can certainly help with delayed plant emergence.

What system are you going to use to prepare for the plantings? If you are going to prepare a seedbed from scratch as has been customary for years for late summer/early fall seedings, get on it early! If you plow, disk as frequently as needed to keep weeds under control. Then ‘seal’ the surface with a drag harrow or better still, firm the ground with a cultipaker following each disking in order to save as much soil moisture as possible. This added treatment to prepare a level bed further helps to get a leg-up for a uniform thrifty stand before cold weather.

If you are going to go the no-till route, please for goodness sake, follow the guidelines that we have laid out in our website under “No-Till Seeding Alfalfa”. You will note that Dr. Harlan White and I have indicated that the best system for no-till seeding alfalfa in the late summer/early fall is following small grains, especially wheat. But go back to the Website under the title of Alfalfa University and move your cursor to no-till and fall seeding following crops. Study this carefully and if you have need for more specifics, ask for my help on our website: americasalfalfa.com.

We have said all along, “no-till alfalfa seeding is not a quick fix operation, but years of research and practical on-farm experience prove no-till can be as reliable (and for many more reliable) than conventional seeding while saving farmers time and money in the process. Farmers who follow a precise system that combines quality tried and proven varieties, herbicides, seeding equipment, seeding accuracy, and scouting can make this practice work for them”.

Now for the real stuff! You know the drill of how to get an alfalfa stand that will get off to a great start and produce great feed for years to come. But just in case you forgot, (and I have the formula in at least a dozen locations on the Website) here they are summarized:

1) Plant on soils that have great internal drainage.
2) Check the pH for it must be above 6.2 (preferably 6.5 and above) before seeding. If it is lower, better pick another field where the pH is higher and apply lime now for next year’s seeding on this field.
3) Elevate P and K (phosphate and potash) according to soil test recommendations
4) Don’t bury the seed! For most soils, ¼ to ½ inch is about right. On sandy soils you may go up to ¾ inch. Most top growers feel pretty good if they see some seed on top of the ground after seeding. Then they know the seed is not too deep.
5) Seeding rates vary widely. In most of the Corn Belt and surrounding areas, the rate is in the 15-18 pound per acre level. In the mid and deep South and the irrigated regions of California, the rates range to 25 pounds and higher. In the arid northern states, the rates are about half the Corn Belt rates.
6) Variety selection to me anymore is a no-brainer. All you need to do is to look at our Website for variety reports and pick the one (s) that fit your needs. A tip: As much as you run over a field and cause stand failures due to traffic or cattle or wild deer break-in damage, look closely at our traffic tolerant varieties? They live and yield as well or better than ‘hay-only’ varieties and are more abuse resistant!