Before You Seed Alfalfa

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

Alfalfa is the highest yielding, highest quality, perennial legume grown in America, (or any other country where it is adapted). Since starting and growing alfalfa requires so many specifics, very often many folks fail the first time around. First timers in particular often miss the simple imperatives including timing and as a result wind up with undesirable and often poor performing stands of alfalfa. Let’s see about plugging some of these gaps. 

When seeding a field of alfalfa you are making a commitment of these acres to a four to five year crop. A crop that will, in all likelihood, be the most profitable crop on your farm. A crop that should yield 4-5 tons per year over 4-5 years. With hay selling at 80$ to 100$ per ton that’s $1600 to $2500 an acre over the 5 year life span of the crop. If the alfalfa is grazed, you should expect to produce 1.8 to 2.6 pounds of daily gain for the duration of the grazing season on stocker beef cattle and returns can be higher, perhaps double the hay returns. In the case of the dairy herd, grazing can replace all or most of the forage during the growing season and in this case the returns can be even greater than beef cattle. So plan carefully and keep on schedule.

* When using a field that has never produced successful alfalfa to your knowledge, get a soils map from your local NRCS office. The local technician in that office will usually have a map of your farm and can show you the soil type in a particular field and if the area is well drained so that the roots can penetrate freely without obstructions to water and fertility resources. The map will also show the erosion potential and when and what grasses should be included with the alfalfa to control erosion.

* Get your soil tested. Your local county agent can guide you. In some cases, fertilizer and limestone dealers have soil testing services available and welcome this chance to be of service. Your number one priority is pH. Should the pH be below 6.2 you would be better off to pick another field for this year’s planting and use a field where the pH is 6.5 or above. Then apply lime to the original field for planting to another crop and alfalfa another year. After 12-18 months to another crop, it should be ready for alfalfa.

* When grazing, top dress fertilizing is another matter especially when the growers follow a rigid rotation grazing system. After about two years of intensive grazing in this system, farmers are finding through soil testing that the fertility levels are maintained with reduced or eliminated chemical fertilizers. Why? Since nothing is removed from these fields but milk, bone, and meat tissue, over 90% of the fertility as manure droppings is recycled. The secret is good distribution of the manure.

* Seed alfalfa on the recommended schedule. In the spring, seed early to get the new crop up and growing well ahead of grass and weeds. In the fall, the plants need 5-6 weeks of good growing weather to establish and grow before harsh winter weather stops growth and be strong enough to resist stand killing root and crown diseases.

* Control perennial weeds before seeding. Weeds such as thistle and dock are almost impossible to eliminate from an alfalfa stand. So cruise your fields closely well ahead of seeding time. It could be that if the weeds are prominent and thick, you would be wise to take another year to clean the field before seeding alfalfa.

Summary: For most folks, basic planning goes a long way to spell success with establishing and maintaining great alfalfa stands. Really, there are no substitutes only supplements for this crop when it comes to forage yield and quality thus animal performance and profits per acre over a period of several years.