Make the hay late in fall so there is very little residue in spring then either frost seed or drill it in spring as early as possible. If you catch timely rains in spring you can get a good mix. A friend did this with some CRP fields that were all grass 2 fields turned out good 1 field lacks fertility and didn't do as well. Other thing would be if there is a lot of grass over winter. Burn it off with fire.
Overseeding a Little Alfalfa
I have been watching grass and impact of fertilizer applications for a long time. I typically use 65#N mostly Urea after whatever is contributed from DAP for the phosphorus requirement. It just never makes the grass as green as a clump of clover or a pile of horse manure, despite the relative weakness of horse manure. So I find myself wondering about dropping a little alfalfa from the small box in fall overseeding. Obviously, there is no alfalfa there now so no toxicity issue for germination. Does it work? Meaning, will it establish? I could do clover, I used to do it all the time but my customers buying hay prefer that I don't and would swoon over the mention of alfalfa mixed in. If it works, what rate? it is established mixed grass at this point. Obviously, I realize that it would compromise my use of broadleaf herbicides but at this point, most of what I have to combat is not all that susceptible to 24d mixes and I can't use duracor because of off farm sales. I am thinking the thicker stand is preferable to the broadleaf spray. Thoughts?
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Thanks, different areas different approaches I guess. You rarely can burn here in spring with burn laws. Virtually no one tries alfalfa planting in spring-too dry most years, even OG is a bloody crapshoot to establish vs overseeding an established stand. I overseeded two small paddocks 5 weeks ago with ky31 which is as tough as it gets and have little to show for it. Three years ago we did great with overseeding but it is worse than hit or miss.
I never thought I’d plant alfalfa, but am considering it. In my case, roundup ready alfalfa. Still studying up on it; might be a 2024 spring planting once I get the field ph up.
Best of luck with the alfalfa.
Best of luck with the alfalfa.
I’m not considering straight alfalfa, just mixing in enough to fix n for the grass. If I was doing straight a, it would certainly be roundup ready. I have custom baled alfalfa for two guys locally and was not impressed due to leaf loss. The best around here wet wrap it or chop and it’s pretty. I would much prefer red clover as I understand how to deal with it better but I have valuable long-standing customers that I have to listen to
Alfalfa is very finicky to establish and make dry hay. I only do alfalfa because there is a good market for it where I’m at and my brother wants the alfalfa for his bees. That said it is very hard to get established dry land planting when it’s hot then a nice rain is the best bet. You constantly have to fight weeds and if you don’t spray your strand will suffer. Once it’s established it’ll last at least 5yrs.
This is also a plan I have for next year provided I can get lime down this year. So far the Orchard and Timothy are coming up good as well as clover and weeds are far less problematic than they have been the last few years. After a good 2.4D dose, it should be fairly weed free.
Overseeded Ladino clover in my fields this spring which works for me as I don't do any horse hay. Reading about the different legumes and their potential for nitrogen I've seen that Hairy Vetch puts a lot of nitrogen in the soil also and might be a good alternative that might be easier to establish. We always have a little vetch in the fields but no idea how it would be for horse hay. Interested to see if the Ladino does anything.
based on what I have read, vetch has too high a tannin level and suppresses appetite. I intentionally got rid of all the spots I had in my fields. (it does make for beautiful bales however if there are just patches. Alfalfa with leaves. go figure)Overseeded Ladino clover in my fields this spring which works for me as I don't do any horse hay. Reading about the different legumes and their potential for nitrogen I've seen that Hairy Vetch puts a lot of nitrogen in the soil also and might be a good alternative that might be easier to establish. We always have a little vetch in the fields but no idea how it would be for horse hay. Interested to see if the Ladino does anything.
The stuff I was reading didn't mention that little fact, but I think they were mostly talking about cover crops and it sounded good, maybe not so good now.
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