My alfalfa has been hammered, what next?
12-03-2002, 07:48 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Hagerstown MD USA
Posts: 3
My alfalfa has been hammered, what next?
My alfalfa field (4 acres)has been hammered by the deer this year and it is thinning out in many spots. What should I do this spring, overseed in early spring or disc and completely reseed. If I reseed, what is a good cover crop to seed with it? Last spring I seeded my alfalfa with oats. I would like to do something other than oats. I would like to try buck forage oats, but I understand they are best planted in late summer, early fall.
It has been interesting, the deer did not touch the alfalfa until the first week of November, since then they mowed the 10" deep alfalfa to no more than an inch high. This is the first year I planted alfalfa, in the last two days I have seen 4 different bucks but none were legal per the new Penn. Game Comm. antler restrictions. This is more bucks than I have seen in the last three years. Next year should be great.
It has been interesting, the deer did not touch the alfalfa until the first week of November, since then they mowed the 10" deep alfalfa to no more than an inch high. This is the first year I planted alfalfa, in the last two days I have seen 4 different bucks but none were legal per the new Penn. Game Comm. antler restrictions. This is more bucks than I have seen in the last three years. Next year should be great.
12-04-2002, 06:43 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 2,059
RE: My alfalfa has been hammered, what next?
It should thicken up next year depending on how thickly you seeded it. You could top seed red/white clover in the early spring. That will thicken it up and increase your forage variety. Grain crops aren't normally top seeded in forage fields. They're used as nurse crops, harvested once and then the forage takes over until it's plowed/sprayed down for replanting.
Dan O.
Dan O.
12-04-2002, 07:30 AM
#3
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Livonia Mi USA
Posts: 551
RE: My alfalfa has been hammered, what next?
Do another soil sample and lime and fertilize to spec's. You may want to use a stimulant towards the end of the season to boost growth rate. You may have to plant more!!!
Romans 10:9 Psalms 42
Romans 10:9 Psalms 42
12-09-2002, 09:44 PM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: cazenovia, NY USA
Posts: 2,973
RE: My alfalfa has been hammered, what next?
I'm with the others, it'll come on strong in the spring.
Mow it once early, like late May, to take out the annual
weeds that will come up. Get them before they head out.
Alfalfa grows taller and faster than most clovers (Red clover is close) - the deer will not likely keep up with it. Do not let it get tall and stalky, you'll see the deer switch off it if it does.
If your soil is good, and you fertilized per the soil test, you
should not have to topdress in the spring, or overseed. Once the roots of alfalfa are established, it fills in very well. If for some reason it comes back spotty, consider overseeding with a white clover variety like Ladino.
Glad to hear it came in well for you.
Mow it once early, like late May, to take out the annual
weeds that will come up. Get them before they head out.
Alfalfa grows taller and faster than most clovers (Red clover is close) - the deer will not likely keep up with it. Do not let it get tall and stalky, you'll see the deer switch off it if it does.
If your soil is good, and you fertilized per the soil test, you
should not have to topdress in the spring, or overseed. Once the roots of alfalfa are established, it fills in very well. If for some reason it comes back spotty, consider overseeding with a white clover variety like Ladino.
Glad to hear it came in well for you.
