Alfalfa advice?

[GDR]

Best option is to silage it off in August if you can use it or sell it, then it still has some fall to regrow, or else wait till a good frost. Combining can leave too much patchy straw and green feed can take too long to get the swaths off. It will be fine, as others have said most of us plant a cover crop anyhow, last year had a heavier than I would like field, that we baled 10 bales to the acre of silage off and was under seeded, gonna wrap the first year hay tomorrow and it looks real good.

[Mufferaw]

To be honest, I wouldn't really worry about it. I always plant cover crops in order to get something substantial the first year. Oats/barley planted as a cover at 2/3 normal seeding rate under seeded to alfalfa sprayed with Buctril M. Cut for greenfeed. Like mentioned if the swath sits for a bit you will be able to see the swath/rows that year, can't see it the following year. Even if you clip some of the alfalfa off it it still has time to regrow a bit. I don't cut it to the ground though. Never had a wreck especially if lots of moisture.
The only time I had some establishment trouble. Seeded early with no cover crop - wild oats seemed to take over the field - seem to be way more competitive than barley/oats. Needed to cut that to avoid some competition.

[dfarms11]

Oats/barley planted as a cover at 2/3 normal seeding rate under seeded to alfalfa sprayed with Buctril M.

Excuse me, you spray your alfalfa with Buctril M and it doesn't kill it?😳

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Since you farm in a very similar climate to me, too wet, and too cold, you probably have found the same thing I have. That most of the rules apply to areas where moisture is the limiting factor, instead of heat units and growing season. From there, many of the recommended methods just don't apply the same. This likely is one of them. Everyone around here plants hay underseeded in a grain crop, some end up as silage or greenfeed, but many are combined as usual, and it always seems to work fine in the end. If your oat crop has more value than the alfalfa seed cost, then not much question of what to do.

[Mufferaw]

Excuse me, you spray your alfalfa with Buctril M and it doesn't kill it?😳

Alfalfa under seeded this spring. Doesn't look like much now.


Overall field perspective.


Different field. Second year of cutting. Frost hurt it in first week of May a bit.
Same management - 2/3 seeding rate and Buctril M application. Buctril M won't kill it, may set it back a bit under certain conditions.

Took off around 4,000 lbs last year on first full cut. Last year only had 3.5 inches of rain - nothing significant prior to June 19. 1 inch came in 1/10 and 2/10 increments. We didn't see significant rain until June 9 this year - around 4 inches to date.

This is Sask. Crop Insurance J and K land.

[burnt]

This is about 3 weeks after cutting the triple mix. It was very dry before and after cutting but rained since and the stuff exploded.

[Sheepwheat]

Well I’m thinking now because my cut hay keeps getting rained on, that I might end up needing more hay. So I think I’ll it it for green feed.

Everything I read says make sure alfalfa has been emerged for over sixty days before cutting it. Should I be worried that cutting it will hurt it’s regrow the and recovery?

[newguy]

Well I’m thinking now because my cut hay keeps getting rained on, that I might end up needing more hay. So I think I’ll it it for green feed.

Everything I read says make sure alfalfa has been emerged for over sixty days before cutting it. Should I be worried that cutting it will hurt it’s regrow the and recovery?

As long as it is not cut past middle of August it should put enough into the roots before freeze up to be an established crop next year.cut a bit higher if you are still concerned about winter kill.Probably it would never get winter kill but may start up a bit slower next spring.

[Sheepwheat]

Sounds like I am thinking this through too much. Using rocket science where it’s not needed. Thanks everyone.

Thinking of cutting it early next week here.

[Sheepwheat]

So I ended up cutting those oats mid August. Seems like alfalfa is regrowing ok, but slowly, been wet enough for sure. I just hope it grows enough before killing frost. Thanks all for the advice. Set my mind at ease for sure. Ended up hay secure with some to sell as well.