Can you use grass as a crop rotation for alfalfa?

[svenlylethor]

Hey everyone,

I have a field of alfalfa that is getting pretty grassy so I'm going to plow it up. I typically do barley but I'm wondering if I could just switch to orchard/timothy grass instead for a year or two and then go back to alfalfa.

I'm going to get a soil sample in the spring to see what nutrients the field needs but I just wanted to hear everyone's opinion.

 

[farmer2009]

I don't see why not. The idea of the rotation is to allow the autotoxin to breakdown and dissipate before the next planting. Any crop should allow this.

 

[powerscol]

I agree - neighbor does it every 3 or 4 years. However before going from grass to alfalfa he sprays to kill the grass then plows under before planting - not sure why, but his alfalfa is weed and grass free for several years, then he switches again doing a mix grass/alfalfa one year, then kills the alfalfa, to only grass (no till drills grass in) then a year later is back to his alfalfa. He rotates through his fields and put cows on in the fall and winter.

I would check with your local agg service or county agent for specific advice where you live.

 

[Fossil Farm]

In most fields, after a few years, the alfalfa gets crowded out by various weeds. The crop rotation allows for weed control before going back to alfalfa as well as the autotoxin issue of back to back alfalfa. As long as you get a healthy timothy/orchardgrass stand to crowd out weeds, you should be fine.