Seeding legumes

[grassfarmer]

What experiences have any forum readers had of seeding legumes by mixing seed in cow's minerals? We have had good success with red clover in the past and are still waiting on a result of cicer milk vetch (only in year two so not really expecting much yet)
What I am really interested in is knowing if anyone has seeded alfalfa successfully this way or any other legumes.

[PureCountry]

Have never tried it myself, but I thought cswilson did at one time.

[cswilson]

My neighbors have done it quite abit-I wouldn't use certified seed as that would be too spendy but it will spread clover and such quite well. So will sprinkling a couple handfuls around your salt box everytime you move it.The first thing to get by if your planning on becoming a cheapskate rancher is not to get in a hurry-if you want to seed a whole field you might want to hire an airseeder.

[myopinion]

Do you expect the legume's to fix nitrogen for you. If you do then understand the symbiotic relationship between the plant and the rhizobia bacteria. Rhizobia form the the nitrogen fixing nodules on the plant root, without the rhizobia then no nitrogen fixation and thus again no benefit from the legume species. Generally inoculate the seed and get it into the ground where it will germinate quickly before the Rhizobia die.

[grassfarmer]

This is a theory we hear a lot about nowadays but what happened in the past? Legumes were used as nitrogen fixers for several centuries before anyone heard of innoculating them before seeding. They seemed to fix nitrogen just fine.