farm hunter

ST Croix mentioned in another post that he is switching from clover to alfalfa because the deer preffered it on his neighbor's land. We too have alot of Alfalfa bordering us, and yes, at times the deer do seem to use it over our clover plots nearby. We have noticed that once hard frosts come, they seem to prefer the clover again however.

We planted a 1/2 acre plot this past fall, butting up to a clover plot to see how the deer like it.

We often hear that alfalfa becomes bitter to deer after a frost - Does anyone know if there is truth in this statement? Also, the neighbor's alfalfa seems to "brown" up more in the fall than clover does, but we're not sure if its because its baled off in August, or if its the nature of the plant to die back a bit in the fall.

Any info would be appreciated on alfalfa. - Most of our soil is too acidic (5.5-6.5) for alfalfa, and before we invest the time and effort into a 2 acre plot, we are trying to learn more about it.

Thanks

Dan O.

farm hunter; the deer have some large beds in a mixture of Timothy and alfalfa that I have. They seem to concentrate on the alfalfa in the spring and summer. They'll walk their fawns into the field (or eat in bed). They're probably using it as a high protein body builder while it's tender.

Dan O.