Questions & Answers
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Warren C. Thompson |
Q: What is the best information source to decide what fields are best suited for alfalfa?
A: Your own experience or the experience of a grower near your farm who own the same soil conditions. Too, the folks at your local NRCS office usually have maps of every area in your county. They will help you decide which areas are best suited.
Q: Why is it necessary to soil test a year or more before seeding?
A: To alter the pH (lime) takes 12-18 months especially if the tests are in the range of 5.6-5.8 or lower and when using ‘conventional quality’ agricultural limestone. There is a shortcut if you choose. Very finely ground, high-grade limestone CAN bridge the time gap but the costs are higher. Check with your supplier for rate substitutions and costs.
Q: When can I apply needed phosphate and potash on new alfalfa seedings?
A: When the tests shows a need for high rates, put some on ahead of seeding. Otherwise you can make the applications at or just following planting. On prepared seedbeds, you will get a good response to 25-40 pounds of commercial nitrogen at seeding but none will be needed once the stand is established. Do not use nitrogen when no-till seeding alfalfa into old grass fields.
Q: What are the most violated rules in seeding alfalfa?
A: Timing (seeding too late) and burying the seed, ideal depth is ¼ to ½ inch in ‘normal soil’ and ¾ inch in sandy soils.
Q: What are the best seeding times?
A: Fall about 5-6 weeks ahead of the historic killing freeze date. Spring seedings can be made as soon as the ‘frost’ is out of the ground.
Q: What is the best alfalfa variety for my farm?
A: Use a variety that is adapted in your area that yields well and persists in valid variety trials. Do not rely on varieties that are available or because of price; it will be costlier in the long run. When you select a top performer, you can expect ½ to ¾ ton higher hay yields. On a five year 20 acre field and $85 a ton hay, that adds up to ($6500+) net above any added seed cost.
Q: If I am going to graze, what do I look for?
A: Use ONLY the valid grazing tolerant varieties. Avoid the ‘me-too’ varieties. Ask your seed dealer to see the validation data!
Q: Can I make hay and silage from the grazing tolerant varieties and how do they stack up in yield and persistence?
A: Yes, our grazing tolerant varieties make excellent quality hay and silage and in recent years, annual yields and persistence are tops in the industry.
Q: How much alfalfa seed do I need to sow for a good stand?
A: The ‘accepted’ and tried and proven per acre seeding rates vary from region to region. In most of the country the standard per acre rate is 15-18 lbs. The far west and southern states, the seeded rate is 25-35lbs per acre. In the dry non-irrigated (arid) regions, rates are lower (about half the 15-18 pound rate).
Q: When is it wise to grow grass with alfalfa and which grass should I use?
A: When you graze, grass helps to control bloat and reduce animal treading damage. Grass also helps control sheet erosion on steep slopes especially when alfalfa stands begin to fade.
Q: What grass works best with alfalfa?
A: If you can grow it, orchardgrass is ideal. It is a cool season plant that produces very well during the alfalfa growth season.
Q: Are there other grasses that grow well with alfalfa?
A: Yes but not usually as productive and easy to use. The others are: timothy, smooth bromegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, and with constant care in the south and southwest, bermudagrass.
Q: Why should I top-dress fertilize alfalfa?
A: To increase yields and persistence.
Q: When and how much fertilizer should I apply on established alfalfa?
A: Top-Dress after the last fall harvest seems to be the best time for the alfalfa and workload as well. If not then, early spring before growth starts. When you must resort fertilizing during growing season, make the application(s) as soon as the hay is removed and within the 5-7 day window following harvest.
Q: Do the new traffic tolerant varieties resist traffic damage?
A: Of course they do. But this is not a ‘license’ to see if you CAN harm an established alfalfa crop. Even though the damage will be less that when abusing non-traffic tolerant varieties, follow the guidelines in the complete article on traffic damage.
Q: What is the top (realistic) annual hay yield?
A: With irrigation and all other details ‘tended to perfection” 10-12 tons per acre annually is not out of reach. But seldom do we experience yields this high other than in ‘test-plots’. A realistic goal could be closer to 7-8 tons per acre/year for 4-5 years.
Q: Can I thicken an alfalfa stand that I seeded last year?
A: Yes if you get the seed in the ground inside the 12-month window. You can either start over and re-prepare the seedbed or if you have access to a no-till drill, use it. Should you have volunteer plants, harvest to accommodate the younger plants by harvesting when they are in early-mid bloom and ignore the older plants that may be beyond bloom. The feed quality will be down a bit but you do have a better chance of saving the new seedlings.
Q: What about thickening up old alfalfa stands with alfalfa?
A: Autotoxicity will likely rule this out. My suggestion; plow the stand and go to grain crops for a couple of years or drill red clover to fill the open spaces for a year or so.
