Dear
Jeff,
I am wanting to convert 2 or 3 acres of my horse pasture
into alfalfa to bale and feed in the winter months. It is
slightly rolling central Illinois land with pasture mix grass
in it now, and I don't have any farm machinery to work the
soil. What would you recommend on how to start alfalfa?
Thanks,
Dean Long
Dear Dean,
Thanks for the question on alfalfa establishment. You are
in a bit of a tough situation, although it is one many folks
are in as well; that is, wanting to establish hay on small
acreage with limited farm machinery resources. Alfalfa is
not the easiest crop in the world to establish and the seed
is expensive, so you’ll want to give it the best possible
chance for survival. That generally means you’ll need
to remove the competition from existing plant material. You
can do this with tillage. Simply plow the land, turning the
sod over and burying the pasture mix. Or, if you are not organic
minded, you can clip the pasture mix and spray it with herbicide
to kill it. I realize from your initial question that you
do not have access to the equipment necessary to accomplish
these activities. I suggest you find a neighbor who does and
who will work with you to get the alfalfa established.
There are two times of year when you can establish alfalfa;
one is in late summer, the other is in very early spring (as
a frost seeding—I’ll explain). Late summer seedings
(August into early September) are usually done as a straight
seeding. Prepare the ground with primary tillage, fit it up
with secondary tillage, drill in the alfalfa with a grain
drill and, if you are not organic, spray herbicide to hold
back the weeds. Organic farmers or farmers who prefer not
to use chemicals on their land have a hard time with this
time of planting since weed pressure can be tremendous.
Alfalfa is a perennial and as such struggles to establish
itself in the early stages of its growth. But once established,
it can compete quite well against weed infestations. For that
reason, we usually try to establish alfalfa in the early spring
by frost seeding it into established wheat or by planting
it with a nurse crop of oats. Both of these systems would
involve tillage to establish the small grain (wheat in the
fall or oats in the spring) which act as a weed suppressant,
since they are highly competitive annuals and allow the slow-growing
alfalfa to establish as an understory. You’d also need
to deal with the small grain, which can be cut while green
for feed.
Keep in mind that while alfalfa is a perennial, it will only
last for four to five years and then should be rotated with
another crop. It is very difficult to re-establish alfalfa
directly into a preexisting alfalfa field. For these reasons
and the fact that having hay equipment on hand for only 2
or 3 acres is costly, many small landholders find it more
economical to purchase hay. When purchasing hay, you have
the opportunity to buy only the quality you want (yes, it
isn’t cheap) and the advantage of not being stuck with
low-quality hay that may have gotten rained on to try and
feed to finicky horses.
That isn’t to say you shouldn’t grow alfalfa—just
be aware of all the options and the work involved. You’ll
most likely want to build a relationship with someone who
has access to the equipment necessary to do some tillage,
or you may be disappointed with results.
Good luck,
Jeff
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