field prep for alfalfa?

[1966Chevy]

My seed bed is prepared by first killing all the vegetation in the field. Discing, discing, discing, discoing, and some more discing. All the while pulling a cultipacker behind my disc. A tiller would be better than discing for soil prep but I don't have a tiller. I also have access to a very nice no till drill from the county, but I have never tried that method. And honestly, I thought I had a decent stand of alfalfa until I visited Nebraska on a turkey hunt and walked across their irrigated alfalfa fields....WOW, unbelievable as compared to my dinky expensive acreage. I never harvested mine. I had some guys interested but it just wasn't worth it. It gets pounded after the spring green up.

sounds good, would ploughing/cultivation work or do I need to disc?

 

[Old Red]

Here is an image of alfalfa field prep by me a few years ago.

 

[powerscol]

First a couple of questions. What is your target audience for buying your hay. If it is horse folks, check with them as sometimes a grass mix is better. Alfalfa can be a little hot for some. I have better lick selling a mixed grass, alfalfa, and clover. 80% is weed free mixed grasses, or as weed free as I can grow.

As folks mentioned get with you local agg service for advice and they may even have a drill you can borrow. One thing I have learned is timing the planting is critical.

Hope this helps

 

[redman135]

Hello 1966chevy. 1) What is your soil like? Alfalfa likes light well drained soil. A heavy clay based soil will deliver a poor crop. Wet spots will drown the plants. I know you said it has had alfalfa before ,but were the crops any good?
2) Seedbed: Must be fine and firm. You are dealing with a "small seed" so you will need a drill with a specialist "small seed" box to get the seed rate low enough (a regular seed drill will put the seed on way to heavy). The seed bed must be firm, as with a soft bed it is to easy to bury the seed too deep and the plant will die before the shoot reaches the surface. Tiny seeds, tiny energy reserves. NOTE soil temperature is important, too cold and the seed sits in the ground and rots.
3) Timing of cutting is important, to late and you are damaging the next crop. (flowers are a broad hint you are late, %&*$ rain delay)
4) When rowing up for hay row up while still damp with dew to avoid bashing the leaf off the stem, also keep the rotor speed DOWN. 540 rpm just bash the leaf off even when damp.
5) NO sweeping, the next crop's shoots ,will be knocked of the plant.
6) If you make wrapped silage no wrapping in the paddock, the cut stems are like needles.
7) Lastly, what bugs are in your area and what alfalfa varieties are resistant or tolerant of these bugs? When blue/green aphid moved into my area the alfalfa was anniliated and it took several years to develop resistant varieties.
Just some of the questions you need to ask before spending a lot of money.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Hello 1966chevy. 1) What is your soil like? Alfalfa likes light well drained soil. A heavy clay based soil will deliver a poor crop. Wet spots will drown the plants. I know you said it has had alfalfa before ,but were the crops any good?
2) Seedbed: Must be fine and firm. You are dealing with a "small seed" so you will need a drill with a specialist "small seed" box to get the seed rate low enough (a regular seed drill will put the seed on way to heavy). The seed bed must be firm, as with a soft bed it is to easy to bury the seed too deep and the plant will die before the shoot reaches the surface. Tiny seeds, tiny energy reserves. NOTE soil temperature is important, too cold and the seed sits in the ground and rots.
3) Timing of cutting is important, to late and you are damaging the next crop. (flowers are a broad hint you are late, %&*$ rain delay)
4) When rowing up for hay row up while still damp with dew to avoid bashing the leaf off the stem, also keep the rotor speed DOWN. 540 rpm just bash the leaf off even when damp.
5) NO sweeping, the next crop's shoots ,will be knocked of the plant.
6) If you make wrapped silage no wrapping in the paddock, the cut stems are like needles.
7) Lastly, what bugs are in your area and what alfalfa varieties are resistant or tolerant of these bugs? When blue/green aphid moved into my area the alfalfa was anniliated and it took several years to develop resistant varieties.
Just some of the questions you need to ask before spending a lot of money.

This...
In a nutshell...
I helped my father and grandfathers raise hay for 3 cow herds years ago...
Usually either oats, soybeans, grass and clover, etc...
Alfalfa requires a lot of work, seed is expensive, and requires spraying for insects...
We never cropped it due to those reasons...
In addition the majority of our soil was clay...

 

[fishheadbob]

Alfalfa doesn't thrive or last too long in a heavy clay, that may be what happened to the last crop but you said it was a long time ago.
First contact your local Soil Conservation Service (SCS), they will have a soil map of your field and can tell you what you have for soil, again if it's clayey you might want to consider a different hay. Find out how to get a soil test and get one, they're chump change in relation to what you might spend establishing alfalfa. Soil type and ph are critical for your idea.Contact an Extension agent after you get the soil test back, kick your thoughts around with them. They can tell you what your soil is suited for and unlike the guy at the mill they aren't selling anything. They may tell you that alfalfa can do well, and they might steer you in another direction. SCS and extension won't cost you anything since your taxes pay their salaries.
Most all hay seeds are small, drilling into a finely prepared seedbed will get you the best results. If you can't get a good drill you could broadcast seed but you will need more seed than drilling. Some counties SCS rent drills cheap. Some don't.

 

[redman135]

Hello,1966Chevy There is one thing I forgot to mention, access. Contracting hay gear is 10' wide, so make your gates at least 14' wide. The longest semi trailer in your country is 53' so recess your road entry enough to allow the rig to get off the road, THEN have the gate. You will need a wide V as long semi's have a lot of cut in. Ask the truckers and hay contractors for their thoughts.

 

[1966Chevy]

Hello,1966Chevy There is one thing I forgot to mention, access. Contracting hay gear is 10' wide, so make your gates at least 14' wide. The longest semi trailer in your country is 53' so recess your road entry enough to allow the rig to get off the road, THEN have the gate. You will need a wide V as long semi's have a lot of cut in. Ask the truckers and hay contractors for their thoughts.

there is no problem with equipment on road here, middle of country and on my 1 field i have no fence, other field there is removable fence

 

[leeave96]

One thing to consider is alfalfa being in the field already -even though thin. Alfalfa has some kind of toxicity that prevents planting new alfalfa into an existing stand. This is why, imho, folks add a orchard grass or Timothy to thickin-up an older stand. So you might not be successful planting alfalfa. I think one year must lapse after killing the existing alfalfa.

First soil test with some expectation of yield driving it, ie tons per acre. That will give you your fertilizer recommendations.

Check your local ag extension agency for both the expertise of an extension agent and perhaps a rental drill. Penn State and University of Kentucky have some excellent PDFs you can download for haying info specific to the crop you are going to be planting.

I do not think 8 acres is to much for a start. If you said 80 acres, maybe...

I personally think plowing is better than notill, especially for a new stand, but I am not an expert on this and others would disagree.

Read as much as possible. Use common sense, do not guess, have a reason for everything you do and you will be fine.

Good luck,
Bill

 

[ovrszd]

Remember that a seed should only be covered one and a half times the length of the seed. Check out an alfalfa seed for an idea of how shallow that is.

Two years ago I seeded 37 acres of mixed seed including alfalfa. I used a drill with wheat as a cover plant. The alfalfa was dropped with only the drill row pack wheel following. So basically dropping it on top of the ground. Got an admirable stand.