A high quality red clover and alfalfa go great together. You have to look into the specific varieties of red clover and alfalfa that are tested in your area for longevity. Start with some long term red clover and alfalfa field performance trials from your area to find out what varieties will work best for you. Call your county extension office and talk to them. Ask them what varieties the farmers plant for long term dairy pasture. Know your soil makeup, as different alfalfa varieties are bred to perform on different types of soils. Be careful on your seeding rate of the red clover, if seeded too heavily, it will outcompete the alfalfa as seedlings and the alfalfa will struggle in the plot. If you want a perennial plot to last "indefinately", and you have good soil, not much beats Kura clover and falcata alfalfa. Stands of Kura clover have persisted for more than 15 years in test plots and are still going strong. It reproduces through both reseeding and through stolons, similar to white clover. The original "planting" of falcata alfalfa in South Dakota is around 100 years old. It reproduces through rhizomes and even though it produces few seeds, the pods shatter readily and 50% can be hard seed that once it makes it to the ground, can germinate in subsequent years, so it can hang around a while as well. Both Kura and falcata need a ph between 6.5-7, and can be notoriously hard to establish, but once they are, they are both excellent draws in the fall. I have a friend with a plot of this and I don't remember exactly how long it has been there, but I know it is going on 10+ years and it has deer in it every day and deer will dig through the snow to get at it.
