Alfalfa soil/moisture requirements

[roymunson]

I have a spot that I hunt, it's essentially a 40 acre pasture field. It gets some sewage/sludge/pre-treated waste applied to it each year. It also butts up against a hunting club's crp field that no one gets into. I've had a lot of good action on in years past. It's a good early season spot, but once the gunners come in, everything goes nocturnal.

I've done brassica plots in the past and had kale that was thigh high and purple tops that were as big as softballs, no joke.

I really want to push it towards early season hunting, and due to the 20 years of past use, I know my nitrogen levels are super high, etc... The bad part is, it's on the back side of a hill and has a lot of moisture. Like to where I couldn't grow beans on it last year.

My question is, what are the soil conditions and moisture tolerances on alfalfa? And is a fall seeding a good time to plant it? I essentially have a 5 acre area I could do with as I please when it comes to planting. I have a good clover stand going and usually get an oats/daikon radish/mix plot going in the fall. But I'd like to get something I can leave in there regularly like an alfalfa and hunt it early for several years.

Any thoughts?

 

[roymunson]

Also, on site I have a brushhog and an aerator w/ knives that I can get the ground tore up pretty easily as well.

 

[wiscwhip]

There are a few varieties of alfalfa that will tolerate "wet feet" to a small degree, but it mostly likes well drained soils. To much moisture in an alfalfa stand will either drown it or it will be more prone to get infected with the myriad of diseases that alfalfa is susceptible to. Not sure if it would be the best choice in that application?

 

[roymunson]

Ok, that makes sense. Just figured it'd be a cool spot to experiment with it. But ya, it may not be the best option if it's always wet

 

[JFK52]

My alfalfa field is a flat, full sun, well drained piece of land. The land in the "Central Sands" area of Wisconsin where my farm is located is a few inches of top soil and then you guessed it, sand. That is in addition to all the rocks the glaciers deposited eons ago. I rent this piece out to a farmer friend who grows the alfalfa on it. He gets three cuttings a year and puts on 200 pounds of potash per acre after every cutting. The deer love the alfalfa when it is young and tender. The farmer sells the alfalfa to persons who raise horses mainly. He has his own flatbed truck and delivers it throughout the state after it is put up in large rectangular bales.
The main threat to alfalfa in my area is winter kill where the thaw, freeze, thaw cycle disrupts the roots of the plant. A nice blanket of snow insures a good crop in the spring. The alfalfa field is one of the first things to green up on my land and one of the last things to get hit by the deer before a snow cover. It is a win-win situation as I get some farm income from the field rental and the deer have a 8 to 9 month food source with high levels of protein. My farmer gets enough bales of quality alfalfa to turn a profit on this field. Alfalfa is not a cheap crop to plant and it must be harvested or mowed to maintain it's viability as a deer food source.

 

[roymunson]

Talked with my seed guy, he said alfalfa probably isn't a great option. Guess I'll keep looking for something else.