Alfalfa Management Guide

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