Alfalfa Management Guide

Learn how to achieve top yields to maximize profits. This 2011 edition offers the latest information and strategies for alfalfa establishment, production, and harvest. Includes many color photos and charts.

Establishment 2 Select a field carefully 3 Soil type, drainage, and slope 3 Control perennial weeds 3 Autotoxicity 3 Test soil before planting 4 Apply lime before seeding 6 Nutrient needs during establishment 7 Select a good variety 8 Yield potential 8 Persistence 8 Winter hardiness 9 Fall dormancy 9 Disease resistance 9 Forage quality 9 Intended use 9 Planting 10 Time of seeding 10 Field preparation 11 Seed inoculation 12 Seeding depth and rate 12 Seeding with and without a companion crop 13 Seeding equipment 14 Reduced tillage and no-till planting 16 Production 17 Fertilize annually 18 Determine needs 18 Nitrogen 20 Phosphate and potash 20 Secondary nutrients 21 Micronutrients 21 Irrigation 22 Manure management 23 Weed management 23 Weed management before planting 23 Weed management in the seeding year 23 Weed management in established alfalfa 26 Disease management 29 Anthracnose 29 Aphanomyces root rot 30 Bacterial wilt 31 Common leaf spot and lepto leaf spot 32 Fusarium wilt 33 Phytophthora root rot 34 Root-lesion nematodes 35 Sclerotinia 36 Spring black stem 37 Summer black stem 37 Verticillium wilt 38 Insect management 39 Alfalfa blotch leaf miner 39 Alfalfa weevil 39 Aphids 41 Blister beetles 41 Clover leaf weevil 42 Clover root curculio 43 Grasshoppers 44 Plant bugs 44 Potato leafhoppers 45 Spittlebugs 46 Variegated cutworm 46 When to rotate from alfalfa 47 Harvest 49 Forage quality 50 What quality forage is needed? 50 Plant growth and forage quality 51 Harvest management 52 Cutting schedule 52 Fall management 53 Hay and silage management 55 Feeding considerations of hay and haylage 56