Planting Alfalfa
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: SwiftShot
17-Mar-11
I have ten acres to plant. Its a nice big open field surrounded by timber with lots of funnels going to it.
Well I plowed it over last year as it had laid unplanted for ten plus years. Planted it in oats to kill off the weeds some and they chocked them right out. Looking to plant alfalfa but I dont have a seed drill. The place does have rocks but most of them our under 4 inches. How well can I plant it without a drill one. If I must use a drill< I might be able to borrow one> how worried should I be about breaking it on the rocks. THe drill would be a brillion.
Suggestions about how to lay this stuff down would be helpful. I understand its 20 lbs per acre.
From: Hawkeye
17-Mar-11
Alfalfa without a drill is risky IMO. Can't frost seed it like clover and is a very sensitive legume and can take some work to get started. Never really had the rock problem but have You considered clover? If alfalfa are you going to bale it? I rent mine out now at $75/acre so it can have income potential, but I often let the farmer plant/bale.
From: Foodplot
17-Mar-11
You can seed it with a hand seeder or behind a 4wheeler.Alot of FS place have drills you can rent for a day.I have about 3 acres of alfalfa.
From: Tombow
17-Mar-11
You can seed alfalfa with a drill, brillion or just broadcasting and rolling. It likes a ph of 7 or neutral so make sure you soil sample. We usually do a mix of alfalfa, chicory and clover (ladino) for our perennial plots 1/6th acre-12 acres. The chicory bolts after about 400 GGD so it should be cut before bolting.
From: SwiftShot
17-Mar-11
I looked for a place to rent a drill. I have a friend that has one but I do not want to impose on him at all. I will feel better if I could find a place to rent one. Hard to find one.
From: Foodplot
17-Mar-11
I think it is a bad ideal to mix clover with alfalfa.The clover will take over the alfalfa.
From: Foodplot
17-Mar-11
They now have round up ready alfalfa.I also like the fall planting the best.Rembember that once alfalfa matures you have to wait at least 6 months before you could retill and replant.
From: No Mercy Hunting
17-Mar-11
For just 10 acres I would recommend broadcasting with eithe an ATV or hand broadcast spreader. Alfalfa seed is expensive but I would put more pounds per acre to ensure you get a good stand. You can then use a small harrow or even drag a small section of chainlink fence behind an ATV to cover the seed. With alfalfa, you don't want to bury it too deep. You mainly just want to compress it into the soil. When finished you could drive over it withthe ATV to pack it.
From: No Mercy
17-Mar-11
No Mercy's Link
We plant alfalfa on our ranch and typically we use a seed drill which is ideal, but for that small acreage I would just broadcast it. One thing to consider is that alfalfa likes well drained soils so do plenty of research first before you spend the money on seed.
From: Bowtech
17-Mar-11
Clover does not take over alfalfa as clover does not fill, except for kura but not too many people use Kura. Alafalfa is almost always mixed with other perennials in hay or haylage mixes. It doesn't like competition but in a mix of 12 lbs alfalfa, to 1 lb clover and 1 lb chicory it makes a very good perennial mix for deer plots.
From: Redclub
17-Mar-11
You could plant it with a cover crop such as oats which shade the weeds and provide green matter for the deer. Remember deer like new seedings so you have to cut alfalfa or better bale it. IF LEGAL you could then feed the deer the bales in winter
From: SwiftShot
17-Mar-11
We are going to have some one bale it. They get to keep everything but 20 bales. It should get two cuts per year where its going.
From: Topper
17-Mar-11
Since you have small rocks it would be wise to use the brillion seeder or a heavy packer to push the rocks into the soil so that the haying equipment does not get beat up. Absolutely get a soil test done as alfalfa very picky about ph level.
I would seriously look at getting round up ready alfalfa as it should allow you to keep the stand going several years longer. With round up you can easily kill grass and weeds that will out compete the alfalfa. Herbicides for for non roundup alfalfa are expensive and don't work that well.
From: Foodplot
18-Mar-11
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From: Foodplot
18-Mar-11
You have to make sure and watch for the bugs in the summer they will eat all the leaves off the plant.Not sure on the spelling of the bugs.
