Alfalfa

Anonymous-0 · Aug 10, 2012

My third crop of alfalfa is about 6 inches tall and is blooming. Is it better to clip it with a mower and let it lay, or just let it stand. It is really dry and I'm thinking it won't get any growth for winter. And if it goes to seed will the old plant die? Never been in this situation before. Thanks, Harold

caterpillar guy · Aug 10, 2012

You wont be able to make a windrow you can pick up. So I would leave it. It will just go to seed. It wont hurt the alfalfa any.

1130Leo · Aug 10, 2012

This brings up a question I have to ask, if the alfalfa goes to seed, will the seed actually grow and maybe help the field get thicker? This year we are all in the same boat, I"m just taking off 2nd, which is not that tall either, but it is making bales.

Mike in Mn. · Aug 10, 2012

Let it stand so it can feed back to the roots for winter, it will go to seed but it takes that seed a long time to mature enough to be a viable seed. It will come back from the roots next spring. The old timers used to say that what ever you let stand in the fall you will get back twice in the spring, and from my experience, that holds true.

JDseller · Aug 10, 2012

The old stand will usually kill off any "new" seed that tries to grow. Alfalfa will naturally kill off seedlings that compete with it. That is why you need to rotate to another crop for at least a year to reseed a new stand.

I have seen alfalfa disk early in the spring and that can split the roots and make the stand thicker. My grand dad used to do it fairly regularly. He used an old drag disk and did not set the angle very sharp.

As for you guys worrying about cutting before winter. You are about 45 days early on worrying about that. That time also would be longer the further south you are. Here in Northern Iowa the last cutting date is usually mid Sept.

rrlund · Aug 10, 2012

Do you think there's any chance of getting rain before it's too late to get another cutting?
Here's how I look at it. New growth is going to bud after a certain length of time. About 4 weeks. If you cut it now and the rain starts in two weeks,you'll have 2 more weeks of good growth before it buds and blooms again. If you wait til just before or just after it rains,you'll have 4 weeks of good growth before it buds.
Take your pick.

Anonymous-0 · Aug 10, 2012

We have had about one inch of rain since May 1st, so I'm not planning on any rain now. I don' t think my new seeding even made it. Cut the oats for hay, and there is no sign of any new seeding getting green. Looks like a hard freese hit it. I'm in north Iowa and usually never cut alfalfa after 10th of Sept.

Dick L · Aug 10, 2012

I had some like that and I mulched it down with my woods L 59. We recived some rain and it is now starting to grow.

Alfalfa

Anonymous-0

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caterpillar guy

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1130Leo

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Mike in Mn.

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JDseller

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rrlund

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Anonymous-0

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Dick L

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