Wi transplant
PMA Member
I try to find the best fine stem leafy cold tolerant variety possible! I too will follow this post if someone has specific variety that works great!! Nice post!
Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk
Oct-Lull
Well-Known Member
Dairyland seed makes some really good hybrid alfalfa varieties. Stem thickness changes with each crop. 1st is always fairly heavy stemmed and by 4th it's very fine. We always try and get our 1st off early. Not sure if your harvesting it or if it's for grazing.
Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk
One thing you might consider when I see you say “reseed” is the alleleopathic (Sp) effect that alfalfa has on a new seeding. If there is much alfalfa in the stand now and you try to drill right into the existing stand you could have germination issues. Recommended to kill the remaining stand early or rotate a crop for a year.
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
There’s a variety in South Dakota that I want to try . It’s called Haakon Alfalfa and it is supposedly very drought tolerant! That would be key with the weather we’ve had lately !
Wildturkey 2
Active Member
Most alfalfa has deep roots
Zero livestock grazing. 100% cutting and baling.
Iowa tends to ebb and flow with wet vs drought years, so the only reason I'd go with drought tolerant seed, would be if the deer really liked it.
I'll research Dairlyland hybrid seed and will kill off my existing stand prior to reseeding.
Any other deer yummy seed recommendations?
I wish I could help but I don’t know variety’s. I have several neighbors that raise alfalfa and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to which field they favor year to year. They might hammer one field for a winter or two then move to a field half a mile away the next year.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Oct-Lull
Well-Known Member
My experience is timely cutting is number one when it comes to how desirable alfalfa is. Stemmy old alfalfa doesn't get much attention. Once it blossoms it goes downhill fast.
Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk
Copenhagen Tob
PMA Member
I've got 5 acres of alfalfa I put up in small squares, for the wife's horses, I've been getting seed from welter, deer love it , very little winter kill, good tonnage, super folks to deal with
Dairyland and Welter both have several alfalfa varieties to choose from. Info for sun and soil conditions, etc. for favorable growth are provided, but not much about being appealing to deer.
My online research has gleaned that the variety of alfalfa isn't very important when it comes to being palatable to deer. You just want to make sure that you plant the appropriate seed variety that will produce the best for your specific conditions. Basically, if alfalfa is present, and deer are hungry, they'll eat whatever variety is available.
Do you all find this is the case? If so, I'll save myself some time and cash in not reseeding this spring.
Deer do graze on my current alfalfa stand, but they don't hammer it by any means, so I was hoping to reestablish a more palatable variety, if possible.
We trade our sell our bales, so I want to stay with alfalfa vs. planting a different sort of food plot.
My online research has gleaned that the variety of alfalfa isn't very important when it comes to being palatable to deer. You just want to make sure that you plant the appropriate seed variety that will produce the best for your specific conditions. Basically, if alfalfa is present, and deer are hungry, they'll eat whatever variety is available.
Do you all find this is the case? If so, I'll save myself some time and cash in not reseeding this spring.
Deer do graze on my current alfalfa stand, but they don't hammer it by any means, so I was hoping to reestablish a more palatable variety, if possible.
We trade our sell our bales, so I want to stay with alfalfa vs. planting a different sort of food plot.
Buckscrape
Well-Known Member
Check your fertility and you might find out why the deer don't find the alfalfa palatable. Alfalfa needs lots of calcium, phos and sulfur.
My current stand is thick and healthy, with little to no weeds or grass. When not a drought year, I get 3 to 4 solid cuttings off of it. Unless soil fertility has an impact on how alfalfa tastes, this shouldn't be an issue.
I would leave it alone. With the stand you have you would likely not get a good germination on a new seeding as I mentioned above.
Oct-Lull
Well-Known Member
If you have much alfalfa at all you CANNOT throw more seed at it like said above. It kills the new seedlings out.
Alfalfa does good in droughts as far as survival goes.
Alfalfa does NOT like wet feet. In other words worry about too wet before even pondering about drought. I have seen lush stands in 80 acre pastures completely die in an overly wet year.
To have great alfalfa you need to pour a lot of P and K at it. Expensive.
Alfalfa does good in droughts as far as survival goes.
Alfalfa does NOT like wet feet. In other words worry about too wet before even pondering about drought. I have seen lush stands in 80 acre pastures completely die in an overly wet year.
To have great alfalfa you need to pour a lot of P and K at it. Expensive.
Wildturkey 2
Active Member
Chicory is also deep rooted and handles drought well and you can seed it in to thin alfalfa fields & add clover to the mix if you want.
Wildturkey 2
Active Member
I
Deer love chirory
Wildturkey 2
Active Member
Try Alfa rack by WTI I’ve had good luck with it .