Alfalfa for hay/plot

[BenAllgood]

My farmer has been planting corn for the last two years on 4 acres. It's been a great draw. We have a deal worked out in which he keeps the corn and puts in a cover crop after harvest. The only drawback is that the cover crop gets in late and leaves a little too much time without much food for what I want. I asked him about maybe switching to something else. He suggested alfalfa. I've never dealt with alfalfa. I've assumed there's not much to eat in late November until spring, but I could be wrong. I do have maybe a half acre section right next to it that I can put in a different mixture of something for a plot. I really like the draw of a big field though, and feel that I'll have about 4 acres of nothing with a half acre kill plot instead of the bigger destination I'd like. There's not a lot of ag around my area, and the bigger plot has been a great draw to pull deer in the area into a reliable pattern. I'd like to hear thoughts/suggestions if you could.

 

[Native Hunter]

Ben, what about paying the farmer for some of the corn and leaving it standing?

I’ve planted WI alfalfa with good results, but it will go dormant at some point during winters here.

You might consider broadcasting some grain or other annuals before he picks the corn. That might give you a little head start. The harvesting of the corn would help get the seed in the ground.

 

[BenAllgood]

Those are some good ideas Steve. He's asked if I wanted any if it. I've told him no, but some standing for me might work out.

He's not combining it, or at least it wasn't last year. He is picking and bagging it as he goes I believe. Since he's picking it a little at a time, I might have him plant as he picks. I sent him all the seed for planting, so he might do that for me.

I'm kind of curious how alfalfa will work out.

 

[Native Hunter]

Those are some good ideas Steve. He's asked if I wanted any if it. I've told him no, but some standing for me might work out.

He's not combining it, or at least it wasn't last year. He is picking and bagging it as he goes I believe. Since he's picking it a little at a time, I might have him plant as he picks. I sent him all the seed for planting, so he might do that for me.

I'm kind of curious how alfalfa will work out.

Alfalfa is a good draw, but I'm not sure if it's any better than red clover and chicory. In past years when there have been mast crop failures, I have had trail camera pictures of deer pulling chicory up out of the ground and eating the roots in winter. That was before we started seeing so much cropping around me and before I started doing a lot of hinge cutting of maples, etc.... Not sure if they would still do that or not.

 

[BenAllgood]

He left some standing corn through the rifle season. But, I gave him the go ahead to do alfalfa. Lime going on today.

 

[buckdeer1]

Get him to add some clover or chicory as the alfalfa will turn brown.But while it's green theres not much better early season

 

[BenAllgood]

Get him to add some clover or chicory as the alfalfa will turn brown.But while it's green theres not much better early season

That won't affect him cutting it for hay?

 

[EET]

Alfalfa is one of the best crops for deer that I have ever seen. The draw for deer during deer season hits rock bottom during modern gun season in my area. It is very expensive to maintain. During a wet spring when the alfalfa can’t be cut or sprayed and gets weevils it is a turkey magnet. If you cut it at the right time in late season it could turn into a perfect storm for your hunting. Personally if it was me I’d have 4 acres of corn(have him leave .5 acre) and have 1 acre of alfalfa. During fall harvest broadcast cereal rye into standing corn right before a rain. Then you have food year round.

 

[EET]

I meant to say, if you cut the alfalfa late summer and have that new growth when season comes in, that will be the perfect storm. I live in Kentucky and August &September are normally dry, alfalfa has deep roots and does well when dry. After a hard frost alfalfa is done until spring, from my experience in Kentucky.

 

[BenAllgood]

I meant to say, if you cut the alfalfa late summer and have that new growth when season comes in, that will be the perfect storm. I live in Kentucky and August &September are normally dry, alfalfa has deep roots and does well when dry. After a hard frost alfalfa is done until spring, from my experience in Kentucky.

Thanks. This is in south central Kentucky. The farmer is cutting it for hay. The deer seem to be enjoying it. He planted the entire field in alfalfa this year. I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.

 

[EET]

I’m in Breckinridge county. My brother had 3-4 acres of alfalfa on our family farm. He maintained it for a few years, and was trying to keep it pure for selling square bales. Problem with that is you need help hauling it in. This is approaching 30 years ago and so much has changed on and around our farm. Over my lifetime of researching and observations I have never witnessed anything better, but the field was dormant for a few months of the year(winter). Alfalfa is my #2 top choices for deer. #1 soybeans if some is left standing and not harvested. To make it even better I would broadcast cereal rye into the soybeans when the leaves turned yellow. This would give them food almost year round. There’s my 2 cents.

 

[BenAllgood]

I’m in Breckinridge county. My brother had 3-4 acres of alfalfa on our family farm. He maintained it for a few years, and was trying to keep it pure for selling square bales. Problem with that is you need help hauling it in. This is approaching 30 years ago and so much has changed on and around our farm. Over my lifetime of researching and observations I have never witnessed anything better, but the field was dormant for a few months of the year(winter). Alfalfa is my #2 top choices for deer. #1 soybeans if some is left standing and not harvested. To make it even better I would broadcast cereal rye into the soybeans when the leaves turned yellow. This would give them food almost year round. There’s my 2 cents.

Thanks. I'm an absentee landowner with little time to handle the back and forth and logistics of planting foodplots. I have enough time to make a few trips a year and concentrate on doing old field management and forest stand improvements which is the majority of my acreage. So, I rely on a neighbor farmer to plant something benefiting us both. He did corn for a couple years. Now, we agreed on alfalfa. If I was able to just use it for foodplotting, I would do things a little different (like standing beans and/or corn overseeded with small grains/clover.

 

[EET]

I understand your situation. My goals have changed a lot over the years. For most of my life no grains was grown anywhere near my farm, now I have 2 different neighbors rotating corn and soybeans so I don’t bother growing either. The other properties are pasture for cattle. I provide cover with my property, mostly. I have also planted 12 apple 12 pear trees, 10 chestnut trees, 13 Allegheny chinquapins( I think they might become my favorite) redoiser dogwood, strawberry bushes aka hearts a busting(my favorite by far) 5 mulberry trees, 5 plum trees, 6 hazelnut trees, 5 dwarf Chinquapin oaks(has potential to be the favorite). I have plenty of red and white oaks. I have also dressed up around 5 persimmon trees, basically kill vegetation under the trees and added 6-8” of wood chips. My chainsaw has become a really good companion of mine. My 4 favorite trees to hinge cut are black cherry, ash,maple,and sassafras trees. I have several small plots of clover. I’m always fine tuning my efforts and looking to make improvements.