Fall seeding a hay field

Lighter soil and was peviously oats harvested for hay. Will be 6% Red Clover,10% Brome, and remainder alfalfa. Any advise for seed bed prep, seeding practice, nurse crop, post seeding rooling/packing. Doing 15 acres and want to do it right the first time. FSA says to seed in mid to late august- 1st week of sept.

I turned corn stubble to pasture. Disc'd it 3 times. Once East to West, then North to South and then again East to West. Planted with a Brillion seeder East to West. The Brillion seeder cannot be beat - my oppinion.

Could have put it in with the oats but...here in NY they recommend seeding it down by the middle of August to allow it time to build enough root reserves to make it through the winter. You could disc the oat stubble lightly, spread the seed and roll it. The ag center here will blow/spray the seed on with fertilizer. You get about 75% of a crop the following summer.

I have had much better luck with fall than spring seedings. As Kornfused said a Brillion is the best way. Sometimes counties and coops have them to loan out. Get your soil tested because you may need lime and you will need to work it in. Fertilizer needs a little working in also. Somewhere I read that you want your soil worked up to the point where you pick-up will sink in an inch and a half. If it is too soft it dries out too quickly after a rain. You should not need a nurse crop for fall seeding. You will want to pull a pole or some such thing behind your disc on the last pass to smooth the soil.

Lacking modern equipment, I have had good results moldboard plowing, fitting with a disc/spring tooth harrow, and seeding. Best to follow with a cultipacker to get good seed /soil contact. Getting a bit tight now, but if you have time and very many weeds, I'd consider a spraying of round-up before plowing. No cover crop needed.

The first picture is a field planted with a Brillion and the second was no-tilled.
The process with the Brillion is just old school farmin.Mold board plow,disk, level,fertilize,harow,firm the seed bed then plant.
The no-till is round up burn down,seed,and fertilize and pray for rain.Good Luck.

Plowing gets it bare and makes an excellent seedbed. Trouble I've had with plowing and seeding in late August/early September is it's so darned soft and dry the tractor sinks in and makes tracks that are there for the life of the seeding. Being dry in later summer the clods break up well and it makes such a nice seed bed. Jim

save your soil moisture by not plowing or working.no-till the alfalfa in. I use jd 1560 drill set at 12". here in wis we want it done the first of aug. if possible. drill it right into the oat stubble. spray if weedy

For years Red Clover with abit of timothy was all we had for hay for the cows and it was spring seeded over the top in fall sown wheat and the next year you made the hay, you might get a crop of stubble hay the year it was seeded but you may not, for the third year it had died out not enough left to make a crop. And I have never heard of red clover being put on in the fall. As for the notilling that has come about after we quit hay. But all the notill fields I see being put out now you can see are so rough no mater if it is hay, wheat, oats or beans I would not want to be the one driving a tractor over the fields but I also would not want to be using a 100 HP tractor on a hay rake either, 20 to 30 HP is plenty for that job but the rough fields I see you could not stay on the seat on them as you do not have the big enough tires to smoth out the rough spots. Last few years hay was alfalfa spring seeded either over the top in wheet, most common or at the same time as the oats were sown for grain in the spring. No mater the crop we always pulled a cultipacker behind the drill with a spike tooth harrow behind that and always had smooth fields. Never tried fall seding alfalfa but it seams to work here in Ohio either way but August is seeding month, september too late.